737NG FL400
 

Tracking a friend's flight recently I was surprised to see this

http://i.imgur.com/jWOkXxn.jpg

FL400 26 min into the flight... seems rather aggressive. Is that a typical flight profile for a 737-800 ?

With a low weight, yes.

Very typical.
But really, you have no clue about operating 737NG yet you come here and talk about 'aggressive' piloting. Tone it down a bit for your own sake.

Not a long time ago I took a 772LR flight from Vienna to Stockholm. Nothing aggressive, yet still 14 minutes to FL410 :)

Sorry I certainly did not mean any negative connotation in my post.

I was just surprised that a 737 would go that hight that fast. I now understand it is pretty much standard practice... I've learned something!

I once reached FL410 in 13 minutes. Ferry flight...

Fairly impressive I muss admit...

Low weight, headwinds, etc

Many moons ago, I was on a flight test on a 767-200/CF6-80C2B6. The aircraft was very light, only about 10 people on board, no interior, no water in the barrels, and B6 was the highest rating (~60k).

We were on condition at 35,000 ft./Mach 0.82 10 minutes after brake release! :ok:
Getting to the flight deck after takeoff was a bit like climbing a mountain. :}

Headwinds?!

Chesty - If you climb into an increasing headwind the rate of climb can go through the roof...

Nobody said increasing headwinds but thanks for the egg sucking lesson :p

Chesty - If you climb into an increasing headwind the rate of climb can go through the roof...

Then again; if you add a nice 'wave' building up over a mountain range, and you can hook into the upside, it could go ballistic. Throw in Max Rate speed & those fighter jocks who've converted to civvi might have a deja vu fix.