This has been previously talked about and dismissed because it was thought to be “turbulence” or a weight issue, I just departed WSSS and stalled the aircraft at FL370 due to this rocking, the aircraft began to rock around 35,000. My target altitude WAS FL410 but when I began my step climb on a second attempt to climb in the aircraft (VS200-400 climb) the aircraft started rocking again even though I had a velocity speed of 200 at FL380, I couldn’t make my target altitude unfortunately due to the amount of fuel I was using in order to attempt to tame the aircraft, so I descended to 31,000ft, during my decent the rocking was continuous until I reached FL310 where the aircraft was stable, this is a serious issue and every time I fly the a350 this happens, at first I thought it was a bug, but I do believe this is an issue that needs to be addressed or at least noted, It would be interesting to see how many users have experienced this but have dismissed it because they assumed it was turbulence.
Anyone feel free to comment if you have had this issue
If your plane is rocking, it just means that right now it is too heavy for that altitude. In cases like this, descend to a lower altitude and then you can try to increase it by 2-4 thousand feet at a time every few hours if you feel like it.
What was your load/weight at the time of this issue?
And any idea of the winds?
I have defended to a lower altitude and climbed back up slowly, the second attempt was too violent and i was wasting fuel, i’m currently step climbing to 37000 instead of FL410 because I have now discovered that once I hit FL390 the aircraft starts to lose speed and fuel and start to nose up a lot, so I guess i’m just sticking to 370 today
my load and weight was the standard heavy setting for the a350 and enough fuel to get from WSSS - KLAX via fuelplanner.com
sounds like it’s too heavy for that altitude
If you “just departed,” you were probably too heavy to go directly to FL370.
A good place to start a step-climb is 30,000 feet. Step climbs are gradual - done over a time-frame of several hours. Most airliners don’t make their final altitude on a long haul until just a few hours away from their destination!
Might I suggest this topic to read, about step-climbing?
if anyone’s interested you can also see my altitude pattern struggles on liveflight (Singapore 24 heavy expert server)
thank you! I’ve just had this issue for so long and i’ve never really known how to handle it
Sure, stick to it for the next few hours. The highest altitude your plane is acting normally is the one you should aim for, just for fuer efficiency. Next time you fly I suggest you use a tool like fpltoif.com (requires a free simbrief account), as it does tell you the altitude you should be aiming for each waypoint
thank you!
No problem.
I see you on LiveFlight. You’re too heavy for FL370 if you’re going to LAX.
Do check out that step-climbing tutorial, especially the pictures that are shown from Flightradar24 for a real flight. You’ll see how incredibly gradual and slow a process step-climbing truly is.
I’m gonna stick to FL350 instead of 370 for now and i’ll start stepping up when I lose some more fuel
looking at flightradar24 some flights climb to FL390 somewhere around the Philippines so you can realistically do that but the weight calculations are not easy to get them accurate also taking into account the winds & trim settings
Such a phenomenon appears when the plane is heavy. Make the VS smaller
I agree with some people that you may have been too heavy for that altitude but I always have this issue when doing over 10hrs flights with the A350, even when I takeoff and I’m under 10,000ft and over 200knts the plane rocks when the autopilot is on. I hope there’s a fix for it because no other plane rocks when too heavy
I’ve had this Issue a few times before and believe it is to do with the aircraft weight being too high for the desired altitude. If aircraft weight is high start your altitude at FL340 something like that and over the course of your journey climb higher as your weight decreases.
Hope this helps.
Your VS (vertical speed) may be too high when you set your autopilot. Try reducing it, and the rocking should stop.
This seems like a decent VS/climb profile to follow. Just a suggestion!
Thanks for the solution but even if I’m at let’s say an altitude of 5000ft it will rock even when not climbing I think it’s all got to Do with the speed