Originally Posted by
UAL T38 Phlyer
I agree too. While you can get to a point where too slow is too bad, M0.01 isn't going to be it.
What Mach or Indicated (preferably both) do you climb to FL370 with? You should be able to slow to that speed in level flight at level-off, plus or minus whatever you are used to seeing +/- in the climb.
They don't really teach this, but it is IAS that will get you if you are too slow at high altitude, not Mach number. Too slow IAS-wise means you get on the backside of the power curve, and there isn't much excess thrust at FL370 to correct with. (Full power is probably only 40-50% of sea-level, depending upon whether that power is limited by RPM, ITT, or EPR).
I'm sorry I forgot to answer this. I have 3 climb profiles I use - 250/.70, 290/.74, and 320/.77. They are all certified for use up to 410 (depending on weight).
I have noticed that if you get slow at altitude, it can take quite a bit of time and power to get back up. I can easily go from .77 to .82ish, but to get from .70 to .77 can take even longer. I noticed this recently, I let the airplane get slow for some reason, and I wasn't watching it due to some distraction, and i had to pop it back into climb thrust to get it back to where it should be. It just didn't want to speed up.
Originally Posted by
UAL T38 Phlyer
Dublin:
I salute you for having the initiative to go beyond what the training manual or FOM requires you to know. You're on the right path to be a great Captain someday.
And thanks! As much as I think it's important to learn about this stuff, I enjoy it too. If you guys think of anything else that I might enjoy reading, always feel free to pass the ideas along!
