brilliant, that settles that
How on earth can 'that settle that'? You haven't stated what aircraft typr you fly, he has copied part of his FCTM entry from whatever type he flys and you are taking it as gospel?
I think you would be better following guidance from your employer rather than someone on here. What you are discussing here is completely contrary to what my employer wants us to do in our B737, B757 and B767s and our procedures are all regulated by the JAA and Boeing.
Time Traveller
On a similar subject, a recommendation from the BA 777 accident report was that cruise step climbs should involve the use of full climb power - staying in VNAV for this will do just this but VS (as the BA used) - won't.
Which recommendation would that be then?
From the
Interim Report
"The last high fuel flow demand on G‑YMMM prior to the approach into Heathrow, and when the main fuel tanks were supplying the engines, was during a VNAV commanded step climb on the previous flight into Beijing when the fuel flow reached 10,700 pph. The step climbs on the accident flight had both been completed in VS mode with a low rate of climb selected, which resulted in lower fuel flows."
Special Bulletin S03 states;
Operational changes No operational changes are currently recommended by either the AAIB, Boeing or Rolls-Royce.
Please provide a quote from the report that backs up your statement. I can't see any recommendation there, only a statement of fact, but I can't get Special Bulletin S01 to open.......
Be careful thinking that what applies to one type applies also to another. Use of V/S for stepped climbs can be a suitable mode. Nowhere have I seen information that says you need to apply full climb power on any of the variants that I have flown (all Boeing). BUT, you need to be careful using V/S on a 75/6 when climbing, especially high in the envelope as there is no speed protection, whereas on the 73 there is.
PP
As for using VNAV to level off in a busy traffic environment, try reading about it here;
http://www.eurocontrol.int/msa/galle...n_7_Mar-06.pdf read the bit on page 2 in yellow.