Questions for 737 pilots
I have several questions for the men and women who fly the B737. I spend a lot of time flying on the Microsoft Flight Simulator and the more involved I get the more interested I am in flying for real some day.
First, I hope someone can help me to understand how the stab trim is calculated. I know it has to do with the weight of the aircraft, but I am looking for a formula that is generally used.
Second, can you tell me how the SID/STARs are chosen? What I mean is are you able to determine which departure/approach you want or is this information given within your ACARS? I have noticed that some of the SIDs I fly (on the simulator) out of EGLL or EGKK seem to have you flying at low altitudes for over 30nms only to turn you around on a 180 where you may climb to TA060 (which may only be 2000 ft abv where you've just been). Is this not wasting valuable fuel or are you able to delete some of those waypoints?
Third, I may have read that when setting the decision height you add 200 feet to the airport altitude. So if EGLL has an altitude of 80 feet am I to set 280 in the DH? If this is true then how would you set the DH for a city like Denver where the altitude is over 1,000 feet as there are only three numbers in the DH window?
Finally, I know there is some debate about when anti-ice should be used. Could you give me a general rule of thumb of when to use it both on the ground and in flight? Is it true that if the anti-ice is used in flight the start switches must remain in CONT. mode?
I appreciate any help that can be provided to me as I am very interested in someday flying the real thing for myself.
Cheers,
Michael