Climb Performance
I really can't believe that some of you guys are airline pilots and don't know squat about your aircraft's climb gradients. Are you guys relying solely on your performance department? It doesn't give me a warm feeling about sometimes riding in the back of the tube. If you accept a SID that has a specific climb gradient: 1, yes you better know that your aircraft can meet that gradient if you are IMC (in VMC you can maintain obstacle clearance visually); 2, you better make sure that the aircraft can do this with OEI (one engine inoperative). You can not rely on the FMS predictive altitudes because those are for all engines operating (yes you can go into the performance page and manually input feet/NM up to the charts specified obstacle clearance safe altitude). These charts are in your aircraft's performance manual and will give the gradient your aircraft can climb: OEI, OAT, at that airport altitude, to the minimum safe obstacle clearance altitude, with a given weight, with specific flap settings. Please be aware that these charts exist. If you fly to the same airports day in and day out you may never need to look at them. But it you find yourself on a charter one day and ATC issues a SID that your "performance department" didn't expect, or an obstruction has cropped up overnight (building crane, etc...) you better know and not guess that your aircraft can maintain the gradient before you accept the SID.
Last edited by g450cpt; 1st Nov 2012 at 03:15.