747 pilot please

[philip2004uk]

Hi i am on my fligt simulator doing lhr-laxand i have 160,000lbs of fuel doing .84 at fl370 and my nose is 5 degrees up. is this normal as i wanted to go up to 41000 do you think this is a flight dynamics error. i suppose it serves me right from getting the freeware plane.

[Rainboe]

That's about 70,000kg so would put you about half way to LAX. With a reasonable payload, FL370 would normally be regarded as enough- never FL410 with that much fuel and a payload as well. I suspect you are pushing the simulator (and aeroplane) outside its operating margin. You should have about 2 1/2 degrees nose up attitude in a comfortable cruise. FL410 is very rare in a 747- you really need a light payload and low fuel. It is usually regarded as economical to climb 4000' as long as you have at least 2 hours to destination to recoup the climb fuel in lower cruise consumption.

[Willit Run]

747 classics in cruise at .84 and a proper altitude for weight, pitch should be around 2 1/2 degrees.

[philip2004uk]

do you think its an error in making the flightsim addon as its third party aircraft as in somone else has mad it. or would this be what happens. thanks for your replies. oh yeah flight simulator is the most amazing thing i have on my computer and very realistic on the a330 professional which is payware.

apologies for my spelling i type too fast and rush my sending of the messages. ah ok half way to lax hmm maybe i should have put more fuel in well i sent the message when i was over nq in greenland and now ive descended to 310 i think i\'ll give the plane back to the programmers lol. well this is the only british airways planes i could find and i can add that in real life b.a have the most amazing friendliest cabin crew and that\'s from working in t3 at manchester for 2 years, i\'ve noticed this once i began working in all terminals.

[Rainboe]

I would say that the performance of the simulator is a bit suspect- that pitch is out of line, but almost certainly you are too heavy to climb to FL410. You should see what the weight of the aeroplane is. My table for the RB211 powered 747-400 shows a maximum weight at FL410 of just over 250,000kg. With 70,000kg fuel, that takes you down to 180,000kg weight of aeroplane, crew, catering and payload. With an empty weight of over 180,000kg, add 6000kg fuel and catering (the crew gets very hungry), you are way out of the bounds of possibility! If you have anything up to 100,000kg payload, you are trying to push the aeroplane too far. For FL 370, you should be at a max weight of about 305,000kg.

[philip2004uk]

Thanks alot it's good that i can ask these questions here instead of wondering whether i should go up to a pilot at the airport no i wouldnt do that, i know how stressfull working can be.

i have another question if you were 23 now would you think of getting into the aviation again as a pilot or would you say no because of the changes in the market. i am now considering keeping my feet on the groung but i feel o.k about that as the job is very demanding as well as worrying about safety.
i think i'll admire from afar and just use my flightsimulator. i was looking at alteon which i found out about when i went for my interview for my travel in cheadle and on the u.s site they offer rides for the public.

its a shame they dont do that here, i would love to pay and prove to myself whether i could fly the plane or not i could probably fly the a330/40 ok as its pay ware and designed to be realistic as some pilots have said. thanks for your replies, the funny thing when i checked the weather for lax in the morning its always ifr i guess way too much pollution.

[Rainboe]

Philip, it's a misconception that at some period, 'aviation was worth getting into, but not now'. It's always been difficult and expensive, there have always been more pilots than positions available. Good jobs rarely come easily in all walks of life. Someone has to do the job. Look at the incredible year on year expansion. Unfortunately training is incredibly expensive. The work is harder than ever. Pay seems to be going down fast. I would do it again......probably. Sadly it looks as if I would have been better going into what I considered for years a fate worse than death.....banking and the City. That is where the money is, for those that move upwards in it. But flying was good for me. It's sad it takes a King's ransom to train yourself up- I was fortunate indeed to have someone pay it for me (largely). Now the opportunity is not there. It depends if it is in your blood, like becoming a Doctor- you need a tremendous drive to go through all that work just as you need a tremendous drive to take on all that expense with all the uncertainty in aviation. Some little voice will tell you if it's right. But remember aviation is not contracting- there are more and more planes each year and they need young pilots to fly them- someone's got to....it may be anyone. Why not you. If the means are there or the willingness to take on incredible debt with no guarantee at the end of it, then think hard- nobody can answer for you. But don't live the rest of your life thinking 'I wish I'd found a way.......'.

PS what's the worry about 'safety'? It's one of the safest jobs. How many pilots actually get killed in airline-type commercial flying in the UK each year?

[philip2004uk]

The safety thing was just when i'm working at the airport seeing planes coming and going and photos andvideos showing how easily torn the airframe can become. although i do keep looking at the dc-10 mytravel that's been going for 50 years which makes me feel differently again and they take them to the graveyard before they become dangerous. well on the aspect of the training to be a pilot i think i'll be happy with a ppl and i can always goto cpl in time in a way i could follow my path in languages and sideline with getting some licence that way i wont feel the should i have done it or not. i am greatfull for your advice.

and on a different note i swapped planes to a virgin a340 g-vbus which has accurate flight dynamics with about 12,000 pound of fuel. the scenery didn't have the in and out burger place that people talk about. and normally as the fmc allows when i fly to the east coast i use the nat tracks of the day program into the fmcand as it uses real world weather look for the turbulant area from the canadian website use the fuel planner on the a330 and use the load edit and listen to the comms of hf radio. and it also has real ai traffic based on real flightplansdepending what year you download them.

and it really does give some enjoyment when you get there as much as when im a passenger going to orlando although i dont forget the real world aswell as in i dont spend 10 hours on the computer, i get chance to career search.

[eastern wiseguy]

i do keep looking at the dc-10 mytravel that's been going for 50 years

that made me smile.......

[Rainboe]

Strewth! With home simulators like that, who needs to spend all that money on real flying!
Don't commit yourself to something too early. If you take your flying as a hobby to see whether you want to develop it, you won't waste your money- if nothing else it will have been a terrific hobby to see if you want to develop it further. Pore through the Wannabee Forum to try and find ways and means. I always think where there's a will, there's a way.
You have the charts you need for your sim? Gerd Puppel (Google) has some superb ones on his website- but you must know abouot that already.

[Onan the Clumsy]

Windows Media question

It used to be that when I minimised, I got a little radio in the tool bar complete with controls. Now all I get is a blue rectangle

Any idea where I need to go to switch it on? - I did look btw.

(v10 if it makes any diference)





ta

[philip2004uk]

Thank alot rainboe and for the link to his website, i definately have a look. i'm going to try and put my self through a degree i think as it might help in other area for a career i think. i'll start saving now.

[GlueBall]

I never fly less than M.85 above FL 290 at any weight. I don't know about the simulator, but the real airplane feels "off the step" below M.85.

[philip2004uk]

what do you fly above .85