Great questions!
Scarbagjack,
Winglet is right on both counts. You ask great questions. Your starting post on this thread had at least 3 of them; speedbrakes, climb profile and jet upset. And Winglet is also correct stating the jet should not commence any climb without direct input from the crew. Winglet makes an important point about the computer only being as good as the programmer writing the system, and I will add, the person inputting the data. Garbage in garbage out and that usually isn’t the programmer or manufacturer’s fault. Unfortunately there have been several recent incidents where pilots have entered erroneous data with bad results.
I fly classic and NG 737s other jets will be different. On our airplane the flight management system (FMS) will prompt us (pilots) with a message on a screen in response to information I previously entered regarding final cruise altitude. On the NG I will look at the AOA (angle of attack indicator, shows me the actual performance of my wing) to back up the climb performance predicted by the FMS. If the ride is smooth, winds are favorable and ATC can accommodate my request for a higher altitude we will climb.
There is more than one way to climb. As you mentioned you will hear us demand more power from the engines to maintain the desirable speed as we climb. Once climb power is reached by the engines and we are “on speed” we will gently “pitch up” (raise the nose of the jet up into a climb) and depart the previously assigned altitude for the new flight level (Altitudes above 18,000’ are referred to flight levels; 35,000’ feet above sea level is called “Flight Level three five zero FL350 not three fifty.
I am going flying for the next few days. Keep the great questions coming! If you are wondering about something you can wager many others have the same questions but did not take the time to ask. There are many seasoned professionals here who are both knowledgeable and gifted communicators that will answer your questions.
And finally, thank you for buying the ticket and keeping all of us employed!
Respectfully,
Northbeach