Question

[ChrisM]

What altitude is common (i don't think it's the same for every airline) for the pilot to decrease the pitch after takeoff and 'clean up' the plane ie.  retract flaps and speed up to 250 knots.  And at what altitude do they turn on the auto pilot.

Thanks

[C]

This is from a Post by Tonks, a VC10 pilot on another forum. It's VC-10 specific, but gives you a general idea...

Take off power = 93% if <,131.5t TO weight/96% if > 131.5t

Every 10th T/O is at full power.

Rotate at Vr accelerate to V2+20.

Simple noise abate- climb to 1500' agl and throttle back to an accurate 93/96% depending on weight. Continue climb to 3000' agl then accel to min flap retract then select flaps/slats up and in. Continue to accelerate to flaps in speed and then through to 250 kts below 10000' then 290 kts above 10000'.

Why split the flap and slat?? Only ever done if one or the other doesn't work or on a tanker if a hose gets stuck out.

Flap 14.5 not used these days... beleive BOAC used to use it. On a C1K or the old K2 it cannot be selected.

There is a more complicated noise abate that involves coming back to a power that will give 500 fpm climb from 1500' to 3000' but it is weight and condition dependent and you won't have the figures to work it out.

...and reference the autopilot...

The use of the VC10 Autopilot.

The VC10 autopilot (ap) is not a complicated piece of kit and has a few basic modes.

It is used as follows:

After take-off the ac is flown manually until the flaps/slats are up/in. At this point the required ap is selected. It will only work if the associated yaw damper is on as well. By selecting the ap all that happens is that the pitch angle and wings level are maintained.

As for gear, I expect its normal to retract it as soon as a positive rate of climb is established.

Cheers,

Charlie

[ChrisM]

Thanks Charlie

[Saratoga]

About the same for airliners today. Apply takeoff power, rotate, as soon as you get a positive rate (can vary from 300 to 1000 fpm), you retract the gear. Once you are above 1,000 feet and 210 knots, you retract the flaps and (if applicable) slats. The autopilot can be turned on at this point, though some pilots will choose to continue hand flying.