Are step climbs usually recommended?
I personally don’t know the meaning to it, maybe climbing altitude step by step, but I’d like confirmation. Can someone help?
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Hey there!
You can read more on Step Climbs below:
A step climb is a gradual increase in cruising altitude as an aircraft burns fuel and becomes lighter. For example, a flight might start at FL330 (33,000ft) and then climb to FL350 or FL370 later in the flight.
They are pretty much universally used during long flights for various reasons (fuel efficiency being a big one). They are an integral part of efficient flight operations.
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I see. So it’s just climbing altitude step-by-step for fuel efficiency and general safety, right?
I found the article rather difficult, but I think I understood the main idea.
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I don’t really understand it haha. Is step climbing similar to fuel efficiency?
Step Climbing helps with fuel efficiency. Staying at a lower altitude for the entire flight would consume more fuel, as opposed to climbing higher every few hours.
So that’s why SIDs have altitudes next to them..makes enough sense
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No, this is not step-climbing.
Step-climbing refers to changing altitude during cruise.
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So you’re gonna do step climb manually?
Currently Infinite Flight does not have automatic step-climb functionality built-in. There are third party apps that can do it though (paid, and only when the flight is “active”)
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Oh yeah like the IF remote?
Still think we have to set our own vertical speed to climb
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IF Remote can do it, as well as In-Flight Assistant.
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Nope. They will adjust the vertical speed automatically depending on the time distance to the next waypoint.
Oh yeah the VNAV, no?
VNAV Descent in Infinite Flight basically works the same way, yes.
Oh my, the in-flight assistant is too expensive for me.
To put it simple in what I understood, step climb is just increasing the cruise altitude.
I realise that not everyone can justify paying the money for third party apps.
Fingers crossed we’ll see built in VNAV climb (including step climbs) in Infinite Flight before too long.
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That’s correct.
Wouldn’t decreasing the cruise speed be an alternative?