KLM 747-400 Maiden Flight   5. Take off

Take off


On the 'Overhead panel' (Ctrl+Shift+O) we need to do the following:
- Set 'Continuous Ignition' (CON) to ON.                               
- Turn the landing lights (4x) ON for better visibility.
- Turn on the STROBE lights.                                              




When flying with 'real weather' we have to regularly set the altimeter on the Primary Flight Display (PFD) to the correct air pressure. We always get this from air traffic control.
An easy way to take over the current air pressure is to press 'B'. Do this regularly during the flight and landing!
Click on the (middle) of the TFC button to see other aircraft on the Navigation Display (ND). The blue text TA ONLY will now appear, above 1000ft it becomes TFC.
Gently accelerate with 'PgUp' or 'F3' (Not in one go with F4!) until the line at N1 on the EICAS is around 80%.
Now press Ctrl+T to activate the Auto Throttle, N1 will now slowly increase to the maximum value.
At the top left of the Primary Flight Display (PFD) you will now see THR REF in the speed box.




When we are at rotate speed (green R) on the speed strip on the PFD,
we calmly steer the nose up (arrow down) until the artificial horizon is at 7 degrees.
More than 10 degrees is absolutely not allowed before we are free, otherwise we get a tailstrike!




As soon as we see on the PFD that we are climbing and the altimeter is increasing,
we retract the landing gear (G) and steer on the PFD behind the purple cross of the Flight Director (F/D)




Above 400ft Above Ground Level (AGL), we may turn on the AutoPilot
with 1 of the 3 CMD buttons on the right of the Mode Control Panel (MCP) or with Ctrl+Z.
On the PFD, the text CMD appears above the artificial horizon.




In the meantime, during take-off we must continuously pay attention to the flap settings that pass by on the speed strip of the PFD:
When we pass 10, 5, 1 and Up we must set the flaps to that position with F6.
As long as we don't do that, the speed remains low so as not to overload the flaps.




When the flaps are fully retracted, above 4000ft we can use the 'Overhead panel' (Ctrl+Shift+O):
Switch off the 'Continuous Ignition' (CON) again
and set all PACKS to NORM again



On the Communications panel (Ctrl+Shift+C) we set:
The Autobrakes to OFF
and in the cabin the lights for seat belts and smoking can be turned off.




Check the CDU screens LEGS, VNAV and PROG regularly to monitor the flight.
(By the way, when programming the route on the VNAV CLB screen at R3, we should have set the Transition Altitude (TA) for Schiphol to 3000, something to remember for the next flight).
With the PREV PAGE and NEXT PAGE buttons on the CDU we can browse if there is more than 1 page.




At 10.000ft we can turn off the landing- and taxi ligihts.




On the Navigation Display (ND) we see the following information:
Top left is the groundspeed and true airspeed with the wind direction and speed below.
Top right is our next waypoint with arrival time and distance.
On the purple course line you will see the Top of Climb (T/C), any Step Climbs (S/C) and Top of Descent (T/D) in green.
The green arc shows the expected position when reaching the altitude set on the MCP.
White dots are other aircraft with the altitude difference in 100s of feet and whether they are ascending or descending.




When we pass the Transition Altitude (TA) (which we should have set to 3000 at Schiphol),
a yellow square appears under the altitude strip on the PFD. Now press STD to go to Standard Altitude.
From now on, altitudes are expressed in Flight Levels (FL###).




When we reach our cruising altitude, the Autopilot switches to fixed speed (SPD) and follows the Vertical Path (VNAV PTH) of the FMC.
On the ND we see that we are approaching Top of Climb (T/C), but also that we have almost reached the end of our route...
Don't worry, the Autopilot will simply continue to follow the last course.




Save as Flight

This is a good moment to save the current setup/situation as Default Flight.
Then you don't need to do all of this setup again next time.
In the menu go to 'File'>'Save Flight...' and call it for example 'KLM 747-400 at EHAM FL290'

ATTENTION: Check if all switches are in the correct positions. Sometimes these are not saved correctly!
Especially MCP and lighting switches go wrong sometimes.

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