Hey guys! I’ve been flying the A330 for long hauls recently. I have this habit of not pushing the thrust above 90%. So when I took off using 85% thrust on a 75% load A330 at LSZH runway 32, guess what happened? I used almost the entire runway and only reached 140 knots. I had to push the thrust to 100% in the end to reach my V1 speed which was 160 knots. Guys, please be extra careful with your takeoff thrust power when you are flying the A330 next time! It is literally like the 5 APU A340-300 in real life! When I shared the experience with a fellow IFATC, he provided really good advice, “Never do less than 100 on the A330.” Just kidding! Anywhere above 90% is fine, but do not reduce the thrust when you are airborne like we do for other wide bodies.
All in all, when you are flying a heavy a330-300 in the future, always set the thrust high rather than low! Hope yall enjoy flying the A330!
The A330 is a bit underpowered. 85% n1 is quite low for a heavy departure. And considering that LSZH is situated at 1417ft MSL you should’ve performed a TO/GA departure (90% n1 - 100% n1.) Also, what flap setting were you using? Flaps 2 is most common for heavy departures in the A330-300.
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