Suspect Flight Time

[Jim Tilley]

I would appreciate it if someone could check the flight time of flight #6011. The flight is listed with a block time of 8.3 utilizing a B737. To my surprise the flight actually took almost 14 hours and the block time listed on the posted flight plan was 13.9, a long way to go in a B737. Thanks for your input. jt

[Marty_Becker]

Jim,

The published flight time is good. If you check the flight map for your flight, you will see that you flew to the coast of Africa and then north to Europe. Definitely, not the most direct flight from KORD to LSZH. The reason you made it to LSZH was that you were using unlimited fuel. Your flight log shows you arrived with 0 fuel. The BBJ does not have 14 hours of range.

[Jim Tilley]

Thanks for the input Marty....I used that flight route utilizing the FS Route Finder as required by the #6011 flight plan. I assumed the two would be compatible....What other option should I have used to file the flight plan? Thanks, Jim.

[Marty_Becker]

Flight Aware provides real flight routes. Here is the Swiss flight page for KORD-LSZH: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWR9

I just used Route Finder and got the following route: KORD DCT KUBBS J547 FNT J94 ECK J546 YQB J560 YRI J568 YGP J572 YJT J581 YQX NATU DOLIP UM142 INSUN UN160 PIGOP UL851 MELKO UM606 BLM STAR LSZH This with Ease Transitions and Use NATS selected.

[Jim Tilley]

Thanks again Marty....I learn something new every day.... jt

[Carlo Alaimo]

When flying Transatlantic flights and using Routefinder, you need to specify that you want NATS to be included in the flightplan, otherwise it will only give you fixes located on or around coaslines, makiing the flightplan much longer than it should be.
It's a drop-down menu, next to the SID/STAR cycle selection box.


I do remember seeing your routing on the live flights display and thinking "where the **** is he going??", and I knew exactly what the problem was. I was also wondering how on earth you were managing to fly that routing, in a 737

I must add that I'm rather surprised to find out that a flight can be accepted by FSACARS, with unlimited fuel being used. It doesn't seem very fair, especially to pilots who put quite some thought into loading the right fuel amount (such as myself). It takes me easily 15-20 minutes of planning a flight before even programming the FMC, let alone starting the engines