Similarities/differences between flying 777 and 747

[Angelo Cosma 61]

Notice how patient I'm being, getting the 777 first for the learning.   

 

Couple helpful hints:

 

1. Turn on "Show throttle position When Moving" to see where your physical thrust levers are to sync with AT.

 

2. Enable "Show FBW Trim" this will be very helpful to keep the trim in sync when you fly by hand as you won't feel the real yoke forces, plus the aircraft trims for airspeed, not pitch like we are used to.

 

3. Try your first couple of ILS landings with the AT ON all the way to touchdown. I found when flying by hand since I was so used to the 737 that I was retarding the thrust levers too early or late and it took a long time to find the sweet spot. Keep tabs on when the AT retards the power a couple of times then give it a go manually. 

 

4. The flare looks and feels totally different than the 737, TOTALLY. A little flare 2-3 degrees nose up is all it takes, and don;t attempt to flare until passing 30AGL or you will float float float...

 

Cheers!

[Alpha Floor 237]

Good hints Angelo!

 

The best hint of all is: RTFM, Read the manuals and tutorials!

[jtsjc1 3]

Tha 744 can be slippery as well, if one does not properly the descent phase...  I've learned that thanks to PSX ...

 

Very true Jose I have learned that in PSX also! The FS 747 seems a lot different due to the platform I guess.

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

 

 

1. Turn on "Show throttle position When Moving" to see where your physical thrust levers are to sync with AT.

 

I found that feature last night reading the Introduction.

 

 

3. Try your first couple of ILS landings with the AT ON all the way to touchdown. I found when flying by hand since I was so used to the 737 that I was retarding the thrust levers too early or late and it took a long time to find the sweet spot. Keep tabs on when the AT retards the power a couple of times then give it a go manually.

4. The flare looks and feels totally different than the 737, TOTALLY. A little flare 2-3 degrees nose up is all it takes, and don;t attempt to flare until passing 30AGL or you will float float float...

 

Good tips.  Thanks.

 

 

 

The best hint of all is: RTFM, Read the manuals and tutorials!

 

Working on it.  A lot, lot to read over and over again!  But, really, I was looking for not just the technical side but, really, it actually feels.  In the 747 you're four stories up, it's not FBW but what comparison can you make? 

[Alpha Floor 237]

 

 

In the 747 you're four stories up, it's not FBW but what comparison can you make? 

 

The height of the 777's cockpit is also large! You shouldn't worry too much about that if you're used to flying the 747.

 

If the flare and landing geometry is what's concerning you, just practice! There's another thread on landing techniques for the 777. Load her on the runway and fly some touch and goes

[jtsjc1 3]

Check out Kyle's vids too very helpful.

[ErichB 3,638]

Great discussion guys.  I can't wait for the 747 release.  It'll be really interesting learning to 'fly' the 747 after having 'flown' the 777 for the last two years.

[Orlaam 306]

I have heard, not that it matters much in sim, but that the 777 is harder to grease than the 747. There's a former 747 pilot on YouTube that I believe flies for Alaska airlines and was at one point flew the 742. He's now in the 777 and says it's much harder to land comfortablely in that bird.

[Alpha Floor 237]

I have heard, not that it matters much in sim, but that the 777 is harder to grease than the 747. There's a former 747 pilot on YouTube that I believe flies for Alaska airlines and was at one point flew the 742. He's now in the 777 and says it's much harder to land comfortablely in that bird.

 

I also read the 747 is "easy" to land. See here: http://gadling.com/2011/09/30/cockpit-chronicles-boeing-vs-boeing-a-few-pilots-weigh-in-on-t/

 

Maybe it's not that the 777 is difficult, but just that the 747 is easier? Also, if you're used to a 747 the 777 might seem more difficult at first because it's FBW. But I always intuitively thought the 777 would be easier to land. Unfortunately I haven't landed them both to be able to compare

 

For what it's worth, I landed a 744 in a FFS and didn't find it particularly difficult. The only "quirk" is cockpit height, but after the second landing you get used to that...

[Orlaam 306]

He said something about the spoilers deploying as soon as the mains touch but I thought they all did that lol

[Avwriter 85]

I also read the 747 is "easy" to land. See here: http://gadling.com/2011/09/30/cockpit-chronicles-boeing-vs-boeing-a-few-pilots-weigh-in-on-t/

 

Maybe it's not that the 777 is difficult, but just that the 747 is easier? Also, if you're used to a 747 the 777 might seem more difficult at first because it's FBW. But I always intuitively thought the 777 would be easier to land. Unfortunately I haven't landed them both to be able to compare

 

I also read the 747 is "easy" to land. See here: http://gadling.com/2011/09/30/cockpit-chronicles-boeing-vs-boeing-a-few-pilots-weigh-in-on-t/

 

Maybe it's not that the 777 is difficult, but just that the 747 is easier? Also, if you're used to a 747 the 777 might seem more difficult at first because it's FBW. But I always intuitively thought the 777 would be easier to land. Unfortunately I haven't landed them both to be able to compare

 

For what it's worth, I landed a 744 in a FFS and didn't find it particularly difficult. The only "quirk" is cockpit height, but after the second landing you get used to that...

I did not see anything in the article that said the 747 was easier to land than the 777.  My interpretation was that he meant the 744 was easier to land than the 727.  "The 747 handles very similarly to the 727-200, despite being two completely different airframes in both size and shape. One difference between the two is in the landing techniques. The 747-400 is the easiest aircraft to land,"

[Alpha Floor 237]

 

 

I did not see anything in the article that said the 747 was easier to land than the 777

 

Andrew, sure, you might be right.

 

How "easy" or "difficult" an airliner is to land is subjective anyway. I read that article some weeks ago and my impression was that, in general, the 747 is "easy" to land.

 

Also, I didn't say that Kent wrote that one was easier than the other, just that one was easy, without comparison.

[kevinh 409]

Maybe it's not that the 777 is difficult, but just that the 747 is easier? Also, if you're used to a 747 the 777 might seem more difficult at first because it's FBW. But I always intuitively thought the 777 would be easier to land. Unfortunately I haven't landed them both to be able to compare

 

The difficulty of FBW is a myth and is only a subject for discussion here because people over think it. I agree with you the 747 is very easy to land but the 777 is even more benign. In the section on the 777 it's clear how much he likes it.

 

As was said earlier, he was comparing the 747 and 727. I don't really get the supposed difficulty of landing a 727. It's different but there is no reason why it should be harder. The 727 full flight sims I've landed didn't feel difficult, no need to stop the descent before touchdown, just flare. I think the problem in the early days was too many pilots came to it from piston engined airliners and allowed it to get too slow with 40 flap, hence the heavy touchdowns. That reputation must have stuck leading pilots to invent ways to make it land smoothly when the real answer was proper speed control and blocking the flap 40 detent.

[Alpha Floor 237]

The difficulty of FBW is a myth and is only a subject for discussion hear because people over think it. I agree with you the 747 is very easy to land but the 777 is even more benign

 

Agreed!

 

Also, there's difficulty associated to change. So for a pilot who's been flying a 747 for years and switches over to the 777 he might find this one more difficult, and vice versa.

 

But as I said, these are all mostly subjective opinions anyway!

[kevinh 409]

Agreed!

 

Also, there's difficulty associated to change. So for a pilot who's been flying a 747 for years and switches over to the 777 he might find this one more difficult, and vice versa.

 

But as I said, these are all mostly subjective opinions anyway!

Except that Boeing deliberately designs the flightdeck so procedures are similar and familiar across the product line (Airbus does the same of course). This makes type conversion as smooth as possible because so much is the same.