Boeing 777–300 Flight Notes

Many factors affect flight planning and aircraft operation, including aircraft weight, weather, and runway surface. The recommended flight parameters listed below are intended to give approximations for flights at maximum takeoff or landing weight on a day with International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) conditions.

 

Important: These instructions are intended for use with Flight Simulator only and are no substitute for using the actual aircraft manual for real-world flight. Note: As with all of the Flight Simulator aircraft, the V-speeds and checklists are located on the Kneeboard. To access the Kneeboard while flying, press F10, or select the Aircraft menu, and then choose Kneeboard. Note: All speeds given in Flight Notes are indicated airspeeds. If you're using these speeds as reference, be sure that you select "Display Indicated Airspeed" in the Realism Settings dialog box. Speeds listed in the specifications table are shown as true airspeeds.

 

By default, this aircraft has full fuel and payload. Depending on atmospheric conditions, altitude and other factors, you will not get the same performance at gross weight that you would with a lighter load.

Required Runway Length

Takeoff: 11,000 feet (3,353 meters), flaps 5
Landing: 11,000 feet (3,353 meters), flaps 30

The length required for both takeoff and landing is a result of a number of factors, such as aircraft weight, altitude, headwind, use of flaps, and ambient temperature. The figures here are conservative and assume:

Weight: 550,000 pounds (249,476 kilograms)
Altitude: sea level
Wind: no headwind
Temperature: 15° C

Lower weights and temperatures will result in better performance, as will having a headwind component. Higher altitudes and temperatures will degrade performance.

Engine Startup

The engines are running by default when you begin a flight. If you shut the engines down, it is possible to initiate an auto-startup sequence by pressing CTRL+E on your keyboard.

Taxiing

Reverse thrust is not recommended at any time during taxiing of the 777–300.

The taxiing technique in the 777 is to allow the airplane to accelerate itself at idle. In other words, unless the aircraft is heavily loaded, idle power will move the plane from a stop into taxi speed. If you need a little power to get it rolling, be conservative. Then bring the thrust levers back to idle. Airplane response to thrust lever movement is slow, particularly at high gross weights.

Avoid taxi speeds greater than 30 knots at idle thrust. Brake to approximately 10 kts, and then release the brakes. The airplane appears to be moving slower than it actually is due to its height above the ground.

The Triple Seven is a long airplane (in fact, the stretch 777 is currently the longest commercial airplane in the world), and the wheels are a long way behind the pilot's seat. One real-world pilot's technique for taxiing onto a runway with the 777 is to taxi towards the opposite side of the runway until his seat is over the grass on the far side. Then he turns the tiller (nose gear steering) hard so that the nose comes around to the runway centerline.

In Flight Simulator, rudder pedals (twist the joystick, use the rudder pedals, or press 0 [left] or ENTER [right] on the numeric keypad) are used for directional control during taxiing. Avoid stopping the 777 during turns, as excessive thrust is required to get moving again.

Takeoff

Run through the Before Takeoff checklist, and set flaps to 5 (press F7, or drag the flaps lever).

With the aircraft aligned with the runway centerline, advance the thrust levers (press F3, or drag the thrust levers) to approximately 1.85 on the engine pressure ratio gauge (EPR). This allows the engines to spool up to a point where uniform acceleration to takeoff thrust will occur on both engines. The exact amount of initial setting is not as important as setting symmetrical thrust.

As the engines stabilize (this occurs quickly), advance the thrust levers to maximum thrust (98 to 100 percent N1).

V1, approximately 149 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), is decision speed. Above this speed, it may not be possible to stop the aircraft on the runway in case of a rejected takeoff (RTO).

At Vr, approximately 153 KIAS, smoothly pull the stick (or yoke) back to raise the nose to 10 degrees above the horizon at approximately 2 degrees per second. Hold this pitch attitude.

At V2, approximately 160 KIAS, the aircraft has reached its takeoff safety speed. This is the minimum safe flying speed if an engine fails. Hold this speed until you get a positive rate of climb.

As soon as the aircraft is showing a positive rate of climb on liftoff (both vertical speed and altitude are increasing), retract the landing gear (press G, or drag the landing gear lever). The aircraft will accelerate to 175 to 180 KIAS.

At 1,000 feet (305 meters), go from flaps 5 to flaps 1 (press F6, or drag the flaps lever). Continue accelerating to 210 KIAS, at which point you go to flaps up (press F6 again).

Climb

For the climb to cruise altitude, pull the power back to 95 percent N1. Climb at 250 KIAS to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Above 10,000 feet, lower the nose as required to accelerate to 320 KIAS until reaching 0.76 Mach.

Cruise

Cruise altitude is normally determined by winds, weather, and other factors. You might want to use these factors in your flight planning if you have created weather systems along your route. Optimum altitude is the altitude that gives the best fuel economy for a given configuration and gross weight. A complete discussion about choosing altitudes is beyond the scope of this section.

When climbing or descending, take 10 percent of your rate of climb or descent and use that number as your target for the transition. For example, if you're climbing at 1500 fpm, start the transition 150 feet below the target altitude.

You'll find it's much easier to operate the Boeing 777–300 in climb, cruise, and descent if you use the autopilot. The autopilot can hold the altitude, speed, heading, or navaid course you specify. For more information on using the autopilot, see Using an Autopilot.

Normal cruise speed is Mach 0.843. (The changeover from indicated airspeed to Mach number typically occurs as you climb to altitudes of 20,000 to 30,000 feet [6,000 to 9,000 meters].) Remember that your true airspeed is actually much higher in the thin, cold air.

With a typical power setting of 92.6 percent N1, speed will be around 313 KIAS. The fuel flow will be around 4,476 pounds(2,030 kilograms) per hour.

Descent

A good descent profile includes knowing when to start down from cruise altitude and planning ahead for the approach. Normal descent is done with idle thrust and clean configuration (no speed brakes). A good rule for determining when to start your descent is the 3-to-1 rule (three miles distance per thousand feet in altitude.) Take your altitude in feet, drop the last three zeros, and multiply by 3.

For example, to descend from a cruise altitude of 31,000 feet (9,449 meters) to sea level:
31,000 minus the last three zeros is 31.
31 x 3=93.

This means you should begin your descent 93 nautical miles from your destination. Add two extra miles for every 10 knots of tailwind.

To descend, disengage the autopilot if you turned it on during cruise (or you can set airspeed or flight path angle into the autopilot and let it do the flying for you). Bring the thrust levers back to flight idle (use the joystick throttle, press F1, or drag the thrust levers), and lower the nose to maintain a speed of 0.84 Mach until you see 310 KIAS.

Then, maintain 270 KIAS during your descent (use pitch to adjust airspeed). This will provide a descent rate of about 1,800 to 2,000 feet per minute.

Approach

Plan to be at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the airport. You must be at or below 250 KIAS by this point.

At 15 miles, reduce your speed to below 220 KIAS, and go to flaps 1 (press F7, or drag the flap lever). Remember: The power is at flight idle, so airspeed adjustment will be done using pitch.

At around 10 miles from touchdown, go to flaps 15 and a speed of 165 KIAS.

Once the glideslope comes alive, extend the landing gear (press G, or drag the landing gear lever), then go to flaps 20, arm the speed brakes (press the SLASH [ / ], or drag the speed brake lever), and set the autobrakes (click the autobrakes switch).

As you start down the glideslope, go to flaps 30 and adjust power to maintain a final approach speed of 140 KIAS.

Landing

The proper final approach speed varies with weight, but a good target at typical operating weight is 135 to 140 KIAS. As you cross the threshold at around 50 feet (15 meters), bring the power back to idle.

Just above the runway, flare slightly (no more than 3 degrees nose-up), and fly the airplane onto the runway. Remember: The landing gear on the 777 are a long way behind you and you're a long way up in the air even when the aircraft is on the ground.

Once the main gear are down, pull the thrust levers into reverse. The spoilers will deploy automatically if you armed them during approach.

The nose will start down immediately. Don't hold the nose off the runway in the 777. By the time the nose gear contacts the pavement, the reverse thrust will begin to kick in. If you've armed the autobrakes, autobraking will begin automatically.

On the rollout, go to idle reverse at 60 knots. By the time you reach taxi speed, come out of reverse into forward idle. Retract the flaps (press F6, or click the flaps lever), and lower the spoilers (press the SLASH [ / ], or click the brake lever) as you taxi to the terminal.