Welcome! If you find trouble landing and taking off a Boeing 737 do look below and read on!
First things first, this is not going to discuss the APPR system in the 737-BBJ so if you’re looking for it in this thread do not read.
Weight and Balance
Lets do your weight and balance. A good weight and balance is the following:
-
Fuel Tanks: 9000kg
-
Passengers: 8000-7000kg
-
Cargo: 5000kg
To acces this you must go to your menu page inflight and touch weight and balance.
Taking Off
This starts from holding short the runway, on a single player not multiplayer server.
First thing to let you all know is that the 737 is the most easiest to control when it comes to the rudder. You can control the rudder at the rudder slide. As seen at the bottom right corner on figure 1.
Figure 1.
When lining up for a takeoff, first check the conditions for wind. If your experiencing a crosswind or lets say the runway is yellow or red at the other side, do not use your HDG/heading for staying in the centre. Why? Because your going to tip. If you have a clear weather condition and the runways are green on both sides, feel free to use your autopilot HDG gage to line up. (The heading gage is located in figure one at the top right corner of the autopilot buttons) (Figure 2. for runway conditions example) Try to use the lines at the other end to line you up centre, if enabled in settings.
Figure 2.
Once you’re lined up on the runway you must adjust your flaps. Between 5%-10% Flap is perfect! Set your trim to 10% or nothing, its not that important on this aircraft. Make sure to have no other autopilot buttons on at this time. Unless your using HDG nothing else should be on.
Its time to take off. By using the speed slide located to the left on figure 1 increase it to 50%. Once you’re moving a little move to 90%-100%. Now your moving, wait until you pass 130kts until slightly tilting your nose up. If you have strong crosswind (strong wind pushing) you will start to slide off to one side. If this happens get your rudder and slide it back the opposite direction and lift off the runway before anything bad happens.
Biggest thing is to be gentle, its a touchy aircraft. Now lifted off the runway, wait until the end of the runway and put your gear up by pressing the gear button found under the spoilers button.
Now keep your vertical speed under +4000 or you might go to a stall point.
What is the vertical speed? The vertical speed is your ft/min or in simpler terms the angle your aircraft is either descending or ascending and how much it altitude is gained per minute. When ascending, the vertical speed will be positive like 1500+ but will read 1500, it should have your nose up if its positive. Down if its - (negative). You can adjust it on autopilot by sliding the button up or down located 1 above A/P button, on figure 1. You must make sure its on.
Increase your speed above 230kts at the most for now. when you’re past 6000ft retract your flaps to 0%. and keep climbing. You might feel a change of angle when this happens, but thats normal.
Now you’re flying! The more higher you get the more hard it is to keep your vertical speed. Increase your speed but not over 340kts
Limitations
The following chart is established by Qantas and I recognise the Qantas website for this following picture/chart. (Click Here)
Above you can find the cruising speeds and altitudes suited to the Boeing 737.
Landing
Its time to land you’re Boeing 737 but where going to start with you’re Approach.
If you’re between:
- 30000ft-41000ft (Start descent 70NM from destination)
- 25000ft-29000ft (Start descent 60NM from destination)
- 20000ft-24000ft (Start descent 55NM from destination)
- 15000ft-20000ft (Start descent 45NM from destination)
- 10000ft-14000ft (Start descent 30NM from destination)
- 0ft-9000ft (N/A)
The estimations above do give a cautious descent distance from your destination, which don’t have to be followed directly.
What does NM stand for? NM stands for nautical mile or miles. You can see you NM in two different locations, 1 in your flight plan (seen in figure 3.) and 2 in your HUD (shown in figure 4./No.10), both of which must be selected to the airport.
Figure 3.
Figure 4.
When descending from altitudes above 10000ft its good to maintain a slower speed. By slowing the speed every few thousand ft, will help make it easier when approaching the runway/localiser. Depending on how close you are also depends on your vertical speed. If your beginning and earlier descent, feel free to keep it at -1500 to -1900. Closer to the destination? maybe hurry it the descent and go within -2500.
The B737 is capable, up to -3000 Vertical speed, from a great height, without losing any speed. Once you get lower the the aircraft will speed up, so you will need to decrease the vertical speed if this occurs.
Remembering that if you lose to much speed you may stall. The stall point to the B737 usually occurs between 105kts-120kts. This will become more important when on final.
When you are under 10000ft you should be getting quite close to your destination airport, its time to sort out your flaps. Before you do so though, switch on your spoilers to Armed. This button is located under the Altitude/ALT button shown in Figure 1. If you can’t lose enough enough speed use the Flight mode in spoilers, it should open them to a half angle, but make sure to switch them to armed before you land.
Approach
Lets start the main descent/approach from 10000ft, in a multiplayer sense your aircraft must be 250kts or below when under 10000ft, this is known as one of the violations. Lets work with that rule. Keep between 240-250kts until you pass down below 5000-4000ft, slow down to at least 220kts. You’re flaps usually only get set a few miles from intercepting the ILS.
These speeds do not direct you to when you put the flap levels down, it basically establishes when its “safe”(in a real world sense) to put down certain flap levels.
Can set flaps 1, 2, and 5 at or below 250 kts
Can set flaps 10 at or below 210 kts
Can set flaps 15 at or below 200 kts
Can set flaps 25 at or below 190 kts
Can set flaps 30 at or below 175 kts
Can set flaps 40 at or below 162 kts
Flap on altitudes:
The following stages of flight is the recommended times on landing to set you flaps down. By also following the speed recommendations above! Not exact to real world standards but made applicable to Infinite Flight.
- Approaching Localiser (Intercept Heading) Flaps: 5, Estimated: 4000ft
- Cleared for Approach to selected runway (Localiser Capture) Flaps: 10
- Intercepted Localiser. Flaps: 15, Gear down. Spoilers Armed and ready
- Final. Flaps 25-30, announce final (Estimated 1500ft-1000ft)
- Short final. 800ft. Flaps: 40 (IF NESSESSARY)
This tutorial is using a HUD landing, so for the next step you will need to use either your cockpit HUD or HUD Camera (at the front, shown figure 4.) Its time to take Autopilot off, make sure to have complete control over the device, even just calibrating it once more for this is recommended. (To calibrate, go to menu-calibrate button-tap) Only turn the A/P (Autopilot) off when you reach the localiser.
Time to check your conditions! Check wind conditions by the same rule as before, either at the button bar or the runway lines. If you have both green it is alright to use your HDG/heading gage to line up in the air. But if theres a crosswind or red/orange at the end or start you must not use it. Why? Because the wind will drag you away from that heading. Now focus on your HUD tools, by using the centre line (shown in figure 4, No.6, No.13, No.12, No.2) you can observe you vertical speed, altitude, angle and speed. Use the centre half triangle to line you up.
Scroll down to learn how to land on a crosswind.
Final
You should be at least 2500-3000ft when you enter the localiser. (Localiser shown figure 6.)
You are now ready to land with your centre lined up with your HDG or manually. Watch your speed doesn’t drop under 120kts but not over 170kts or you will climb. Keep you nose up, to maintain this, move the centre line above the 2 outer lines, not to much or you may stall. You should pass the end of the runway and the first set of white lines before touching down.
Make sure to pullback on the speed slide for reverse thrust and use your brakes. Now you have landing!
Figure 5.
Final (Crosswind)
When landing on a crosswind you need to be like figure 5. Depending on which direction the wind is, is depending on which way you need to head, so that you will guide in and land in the centre. By doing this you need to use your rudder and roll. Same with a normal landing ect-. Once you have touched down make sure to swerve yourself back to centre, since your body is facing a different direction, so you can centre your front wheel.
Figure 6.
Do Check out the Infinite flight Checklist available to download from this thread:
Thank you for reading! I hope you may have learnt something from the post.
If this post has turned to general please move it back to tutorials