Originally Posted by
at6d
That was because they were level C sims if I remember correctly. We had to do three takeoffs and landings in the actual airplane. Level D sims take care of that.
The cost to do pattern work in a 777 would be staggering.
I've seen pattern work training in a 737. I've seen the military do it in 767 and KC10, but disregarding that, I've definitely seen it done with civilian 737s and some other jets of similar size. I know of many 121s doing actual training in the aircraft, although I don't know of any operating very large aircraft doing the same.