Operation Manual Part 1

Aerosoft – Digital Aviation
CRJ-700 CRJ-900
AOM PART 1
AIRCRAFT GENERAL / IN FSX
VOL
1
1-1-40
1 August 2017
CLIMB AND CRUISE
After the busy phase is over and the autopilot follows the horizontal navigation, the route, it is our turn to
secure that all marked speed and altitude restrictions will be followed. We also change to standard barometric
pressure at the transition Altitude (TA) – in Germany this is at 5’000 ft.
Background information: Different to flying in the US, the European altitude control requires changing at
3’000 to 5’000ft and in mountainous areas higher to meet minimum altitudes above terrain. As of that TL the
flight level will be assigned as FL50 equal to 5’000 ft. at standard barometric pressure 1013 mbar (29.92 in HG)
and mentioned by the controller.
The CRJ has no automatic vertical navigation control and it is the task of the pilot flying to concur with possible
restrictions by setting i.e. the next allowed flight level. Our SID includes the following description and
limitations:
MODRU ONE TANGO
On track 232° DY to 3.4 DME DUS/3.6 DME IDNE;
RT, on track 321° to UBORO;
LT, NETEX; LT on track 200° to MODRU.
Climb with 7% (425ft/NM) or more until passing 3000.
GPS/FMS RNAV: [A600+] - DL243[K210-; R] -
UBORO[L] - NETEX[K250-] - MODRU[F210+].
With the following meaning:
• NETEX[K210-] the speed until NETEX is limited to 210 kts, even if you may have exceeded FL100
• MODRU[F210+] means that we should be crossing MODRU at FL210 or higher
Background information: The CRJ has a built-in autopilot modus that can control the climb or descent speed
by changing the pitch attitude and by that the rate of climb or descent to match a given target speed. For best
performance, thrust lever need to be at least in CLB and the FADEC will set an optimal climb power according a
database that relates to altitude and outside temperature. The typically used speed profile is 250/290/0.74
and this profile is the base for our flight calculation. Alternatively, you may choose to fly faster, i.e. catch up
with a delay. This would be 250/300/0.77 or even 250/320/0.80. Naturally these are less economical.
The first number in this list of speeds is the speed below FL100, which is unified around the world but maybe
lifted by the controller, if current traffic allows.
The second number is the speed for climb and cruise above FL100. With increased flight altitude, there is a
limit for aircraft not only from “indicated Airspeed” but also from the Mach number that shall not be
exceeded. The mentioned speed profiles keep a safety margin from these structural limits of the aircraft. At
about FL270, you reach an interception of IAS =290 and Mach =0.74 and you need to follow the speed control
by Mach. The speed selection button has a centre push button to switch between IAS and Mach.
Passing FL100 we switch off the landing lights and could change the IAS HOLD to the desired 290 kts for the
following climb to FL290. But since the SID contains a speed restriction of maximum 250 kts until waypoint
NETEX, we need to wait until we have that passed. Since our weather is not predicting any special turbulence,
we switch off the “Fasten Seat Belt” sign.
Just before we reach FL290 we are matching up with Mach 0.74 and change to Mach speed control.
At 1’000 ft. prior to target FL an alert will draw our attention to monitor the levelling off to horizontal cruise
flight. Since this requires less power from the engines, we need to pull out the thrust lever and adjust the N
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