In this lesson you'll learn about the basics of flying a Boeing 737: takeoffs, climb, cruise, descent, and landing.

ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE

25 minutes

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS

You should complete all of the Student, Private, and Commercial Pilot lessons before beginning this lesson. Taking the Instrument Rating lessons will also be very helpful. Reading the Ground School material before starting this lesson will help you better understand the skills being taught and terminology used in the lesson.

THE WEATHER

The sky is clear and the wind is calm.

RECOMMENDED CHARTS

None

ABOUT THE FLIGHT

In this lesson you will become familiar with flying the Boeing 737. You will take off from runway 34R at KSEA, climb to 12000, level off, perform a series of turns, descend, and fly a visual approach to a full stop landing back on runway 16L at KSEA.

KEY COMMANDS TO REMEMBER

F7 to operate the flaps
G to operate the landing gear
Shift + / (slash) to arm spoilers

FLIGHT CRITERIA

You'll be asked to maintain:

• Airspeed within 15 knots as assigned
• Altitude within 200 feet as assigned
• Headings within 10 degrees as assigned
• Bank no more than 10 degrees steeper and no more than 5 degrees shallower than assigned
• Power settings no more than 2% above and no more than 5% below N1 as assigned
• Pitch attitude within 3 degrees as assigned except on landing flare, where pitch angle should be no more than 5 degrees and no less than 2 degrees nose-up pitch attitude
• Vertical speed within 400 feet per minute during descent