Cruising Altitude & Speed

[dreamer_toons]

I have been doing my flights with 330, 350, 380 and 777 on FSX:SE for couples of months.

I realized that my maximum altitude is between the range of 28000ft to 34000ft, as instructed by ATC during flight and my maximum cruising speed is always between 300kts to 320kts. I can request to fly at higher altitude but when I tried to increase my speed above 310kts, I get an overspeed warning.

When I travel on actual flights, both the cruising altitude and speed are way above the above figures.

I'm curious is my simulator operating normally? How to configure it to operate it more realistically; example, ATC will instruct me to fly at higher altitude right from the start and I can set at higher cruising speed?

[garymbuska]

I have been doing my flights with 330, 350, 380 and 777 on FSX:SE for couples of months.

I realized that my maximum altitude is between the range of 28000ft to 34000ft, as instructed by ATC during flight and my maximum cruising speed is always between 300kts to 320kts. I can request to fly at higher altitude but when I tried to increase my speed above 310kts, I get an overspeed warning.

When I travel on actual flights, both the cruising altitude and speed are way above the above figures.

I'm curious is my simulator operating normally? How to configure it to operate it more realistically; example, ATC will instruct me to fly at higher altitude right from the start and I can set at higher cruising speed?

I am a little confused here. What are you using to make your flights with? If you use the builtin flight planner of FSX you can set up the altitude you want and ATC will never ask you to go higher or lower than the altitude you set in your flight plan. Are you sure that your altimeter is set at 2992 which takes effect after flight level 180 I think that is correct. You also have to remember that every aircraft has what is called a service ceiling and you should not go above that. Trying to go higher than that can cause an overspeed warning as the plane is trying to climb higher than it is designed for. If you are not careful the plane can stall.
Even most of the other flight plan maker programs you set the altitude in which you want to fly at.
Now in the real world there are assigned flight levels for the different directions you fly, this is to avoid mid air collisions EAST & WEST are different than NORTH & SOUTH
If you google it you can find out the range of altitudes that are available for each direction one set are odd altitudes and the other are even altitudes with a 1,000 foot gap in-between any two directions.

[pegger]

Your overspeed warning is linked to your INDICATED air speed. Your max cruise speed for a tube liner should be referenced to mach number.
The speed you see on the info screens when travelling in real life is the ground speed.

Do some research into the aspects of speed in aviation, and hopefully you'll earn a better understanding.

Btw, going higher does not cause overspeed...
Overspeed happens when you try to push the aircraft beyong its safe airspeed operational range.

[Tonydb]

Hi,

ATC, does not usually send large jetlioners directly to their chosen altitude, FSX ATC tends to take you there in three steps. The altitude that is set for the flight is the one you setup in the flight planner window. Usually there is a suggested altitude in that window but you can alter it at will within the constraints of the aircraft you are flying.

[clarenceover]

Many commercial aircraft are not capable of climbing to their optimum/final cruise altitude until they have reduced weight by using some of the fuel load.
On a typical day over where I live, I see many trans-Atlantic aircraft out of Paris in level cruise at FL310 (31,000ft with altimeter set to 1013mb) as they burn off fuel, the onboard systems will recommend higher optimum cruising levels for maximum economy as the flight progresses.

I have seen over the years the odd 767 at 41,000 ft, must have been very light, load and fuel wise. when the 787's were first in service, flying at 43,000ft. And very recently a Lufthansa 747-400 at 41,000ft, around an hour from Frankfurt from across the Atlantic.

As mentioned by others, don't confuse True Airspeed (TAS), Indicated Airspeed (IAS) and ground speed (G/S). These are all very different.

Look for the Mach number when flying the B777, if you've got .83 Mach, that's very approximately 480kts at cruising levels. But indicated airspeed will perhaps be nearer 300-310Kts.
If you've got a 100 knot tailwind (blowing from behind) you could have a 580kt groundspeed!

[dreamer_toons]

Thanks everyone for your kind enlightenment.

I have learnt some important points from the clarifications.