Can anyone supply reasoning as to why the 747-400 plane look like it is in a climbing configuration when I thought it should be flying level. I was flying a route from KMIA to EGLL and after climbing to 40,000, the plane had like a nose high (10 or 15 degree) attitude profile after I was leveled off at the desire altitude. Is this normal?Wilbert

If you had full fuel and climbed straight to 40,000 it would fly nose high. You would have to post a screen shot to see if it is excessive. Fully loaded 747s often climb to around 29,000 and after a couple hours climb up to the final cruising altitude when the weight has reduced. 747s normally cruise nose high. I don't know why they were designed that way, but I've flown in dozens of them and they're all the same. The deck angle reduces as the flight progresses. 777s tend to have a much flatter deck angle at cruise.Ben

with full loads of fuel and the maximum amount of payload, you should not be going anywhere near 40,000 feet. your airplane is struggling to keep its altitude by raising the nose up. typical autopilot behaviour. go down to around 30,000 feet for the first few hours. there are cruising charts available online. personally, I love the PMDG 747 because its FMC tells me the optimum cruising altitude for my current weight AND when I should climb to a higher altitude.

Pretty much normal. I've flown the 747 a few times, and never noticed anything unusual as far as attitude. Like some say, with a full load of fuel and pax, to maintain 40k will most likely have it nose up a bit. Also the speedwill effect that to an extent. Also...It's generally normal to feel or look nose higheven in a normal flight config, just from the way the planesfly. Go fly in a real life 737 for a while. It will feel nosehigh and sloping back the whole trip nearly if you look at the horizon vs the aircraft window. Descent might make it look nearly level maybe.. :/MK

I'll try not to bore you with too much aerodynamics. The "deck angle", or angle of inclination as some call it, has no particular value for any airplane. Every flight and every airplane will have a different deck angle. This angle depends on: 1) The airplane weight ( the heavier the more lift is required which equals a higher angle of attack which means a higher deck angle). 2) The location of the load, or weight distribution, in regard to the airplane's center of gravity. This includes pax, cargo and fuel. This is why the most important part of "real" flight planning is not as much the weather as it is where are you going to put your cargo/fuel. 3) Airpseed, the slower you fly the higher the angle of attack, which again, equals a higher deck angle.The location of the engines also play a role in the amount of deck angle an airplane has in level flight. When the engines are below the center of gravity ( like a 747 )the thrust of the engines will tend to pitch the nose up. A tail engined airplane ( MD 80 for example ) also give a tendency for the nose to rise. If the engines are above the center of gravity ( like some Military transports ) it will actually have a nose down tendency. An airplane gets its best performance (fuel to speed ratio) when it is flying at or near zero degrees angle of attack. This means it is producing the least amount of lift required for level flight. This is important because the more lift that's produced also means an increase in aerodynamic drag. This drag eats fuel and airspeed. So an airplane in level flight is trimmed to obtain an attitude that will allow it fly level with the least amount of lift possible. In a typically loaded B-747 this attitude is with about a 3* nose up deck angle.One other interesting point is, the next time you're at the airport (the real one) look at the angle of the engines in regard to the ground. You may notice that they are angled downward. This is done to compensate for when the airplane is at altitude with it's nose up deck angle. Engines perform best when they are perfectly level with the oncoming air.There is of course much more to this, but as I said, I don't want to bore everybody with a lecture in aerodynamics. Hope it gives you a little better understanding.John M