United 737-700 PDX to LAX.

[reef 3]

Hello chaps,

United airlines is fast becoming one of my favourite liveries and so i sourced out a flight and set too. Starting to get my head around the FMC aboard the PMDG 737 now and enjoying the extra depth it brings but i do have a couple of questions, more on that later. Seeing as i flew KPDX Portland to PAJN Juneau recentley i thought i would head south this time. My last trip found my heading into some rather damp weather, it will be quite the opposite as we head deep in to California. Thanks to all who pointed me in the direction of the PMDG 737 as im enjoying it very much, this flights for you. Oh and by the way, its 28 edited shots long :shock: its i good job i enjoy it !!

Please enjoy the flight......

KPDX in all its glory. Weather for departure would be overcast with a light wind at 312°. Runway for today is 28R from which a 757 is heading to the gates.

Taking our seat in the slightly chilly cockpit AirCon will soon sort that out.

The tail of our aircraft and fellow guests at KPDX terminal E.

After a swift startup and clearance we request pushback as i announce the flight to the passengers.

Leaving the gate behind we make our way to 28R.

Passing the NorthEast Ramp as an Alaska Airlines flight arrives 28L.

Holding short at the Wig-Wag lights as an old colors United flight gets clearance.

Portland tower keeping it fluid as we position and hold as the flight in front gets airborne.

We follow suit as were cleared for takeoff....

....leaving KPDX.

Climbing over Pearson Airfield.

Turning away from the River Colombia as we make our first turn.

Climbing through the cloud.

Reaching our cruise alttitude FL190.

Crossing into California the weather worsens and we consider a higher cruise level.

Not much later its all blue sky. Here passing the Ritter Range.

About to begin our decent for KLAX Los Angeles.

Not sure where the sky ends and the land starts but at least i know where the moon is.

San Barnardino Mountains...not far now.

Downtown L.A. looking down.

Downtown L.A. looking up.

Gear down turning onto Final.

Hot, Dusty, Dirty, Smoggy, Noisey......missing Portland.

Holding 150kts descending onto 24R.

I flared just a tad too much as i seemed to glide for quite some time before i touched down. Lucky for me its a big runway.

But i made sure i stopped quickley, brakes, spoilers and reversers. 3 Quantas on the ground.

Passing Virgin and KLM as we head for our gate.

And here we are. Gate 75A.

And just as we started the flight, an overview of KLAX. Hope you enjoyed the flight. God it was a long one (from an editors point of view :wink: )

Comments as always welcome good or bad. Thanks for taking the time to look them over.

Steve

A couple of Questions.

1). At what point in an approach do you begin to slow down so as to keep pace with other landing traffic in a queue.

2). Is there a way to know what runway you will be landing on when you program your flight into the FMC or is it simply an addition when you get clearance ?

[allardjd 1,853]

At what point in an approach do you begin to slow down so as to keep pace with other landing traffic in a queue.

There's a 250 knot speed limit below 10,000, if that helps. RW ATC expects you to already be at or below that when you break through 10,000.

Is there a way to know what runway you will be landing on when you program your flight into the FMC or is it simply an addition when you get clearance ?

I'm FMC-challenged, but in a word, the answer would probably be "Nope". If you look at forecast weather to see which runway(s) are likely to be in use and know which navaid you'll be coming off of in the final flight phase, you may be able to make an educated guess.

Nice flight, by the way. I really liked the first of the two takeoff shots with the gear in transit.

John

[mutley 4,498]

Hi reef,

A great set of shots and interesting flight and commentary.

I have the PMDG but like John have never really gotten into the FMC. You will never know what runway to expect. I saw this logged a couple of years ago and I am sure Martyn came up with an answer, you just have to follow the vectoring from ATC.

I wonder if before starting to program the FMC you used goto airport and select the active runway of your destination first then reposition to the departure airport and program the FMC with the active?

I'm sure you will get more intelligent answers than this :wink:

Quite a few of these shots are as usual subtly brilliant, well done.

Cheers

[AirbusLad 0]

Wow Reef mate love it, again i dunno what to say as yours are always fab. I have just got the PMDG 747 and see it has the same FMC as the 737, damn im gonan have some fun here. Wont have a first clue where to start lol.

[ddavid 149]

You're going to have to cut that grass sometime, Steve - it's lowering the tone of the post!! No, seriously, excellent shots and commentary - thanks for sharing.

Cheers - Dai. :wink:

[reef 3]

Thanks chaps, appreciate your comments.

I'm finding the FMC quite easy to use so far, just taking it one step at a time. Enjoyed this flight very much as was my first flight into LAX. I also picked up KDCA so hopefully another flight to come soon. Cloud9's 50% off is just too tempting :wink:

steve