165:(ATC) approval, in order to ensure that the aircraft is always at an appropriate altitude for traffic control. While not quite as efficient as a continuous cruise climb, step climbs are still more efficient than maintaining a single altitude throughout a flight. The step climb intervals may be 1,000 or 2,000 or 4,000 ft (300 or 610 or 1,220 m), depending on the flight level rules which apply on the particular airway being flown.
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loaded with fuel, is not the same as the altitude that provides the best efficiency at the end of the flight when most of the fuel aboard has been burned. This latter altitude is usually significantly higher than the former. By climbing gradually throughout the cruise phase of a flight, pilots can make the most economical use of their fuel.
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and commercial travel, the technique of gradually climbing in cruise altitude as fuel burns off and the aircraft becomes lighter has been widely used by pilots. The altitude that provides the most fuel-efficient cruise (at the desired speed) at the start of a long flight, when the aircraft is fully
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aircraft. In fact, the most efficient altitude for a small general aviation aircraft may be only some 300–1000 meters (a few thousand feet) above the ground, and increasing altitude may diminish efficiency rather than improve it (propellers tend to lose efficiency in thinner air, and many small
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was used by pilots. This amounted to a simple, continuous, very gradual climb from an initial cruise altitude to a final cruise altitude, and made the most efficient use of fuel. However, with increasing air traffic and the assignment of distinct
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in aviation is a series of altitude gains that improve fuel economy by moving into thinner air as an aircraft becomes lighter and becomes capable of flying in the thinner air at a higher altitude.
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Some pilots use "rules of thumb" for determining when to perform a step climb. These "rules" do not consider the effects of different winds at different levels; computerised
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systems may be better at height optimisation, and may even include 'step descents' in certain weather conditions. Two of the information rules used by some pilots are:
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179:(FMS) calculate and/or execute the proper steps in a step climb, in order to maximize the efficiency realized by the technique.
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Step and cruise climbs are not normally applicable to lower-flying aircraft propelled by conventional
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Keep climbing whenever the aircraft is light enough to climb to the next highest available
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378:. Directorate of Safety, Headquarters Military Airlift Command: 10. April 1978
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Where traffic is not an issue, cruise climbs may still be used.
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Void, Joyce D. (7 September 1990). "10. Cruise
Performance".
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In most modern commercial airliners, computers such as
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If it is possible to stay at the next higher cruise
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396:Eric Holloway, Eric: Stars are my friends (2005).
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
350:. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 15–9.
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346:Spitzer, Cary R., ed. (2001).
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177:flight management systems
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136:Since the early days of
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348:The Avionics Handbook
289:North Atlantic Tracks
153:to specific flights,
144:Originally, a simple
223:Informal step climbs
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43:improve this article
496:Takeoff and landing
269:Air traffic control
163:air traffic control
258:to make the climb.
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525:Top of climb
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380:. Retrieved
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329:. Retrieved
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274:Flight level
244:flight level
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161:—with
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99:October 2022
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58:"Step climb"
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41:Please help
36:verification
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448:Main phases
200:jet engined
132:Description
520:Step climb
382:10 October
331:10 October
305:References
217:efficiency
192:turboprops
188:propellers
159:step climb
69:newspapers
545:Go-around
560:Category
515:Rotation
263:See also
196:turbofan
170:Concorde
510:Holding
480:Landing
475:Descent
460:Takeoff
455:Taxiing
248:descent
155:airways
83:scholar
530:Loiter
470:Cruise
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465:Climb
186:with
125:climb
123:step
90:JSTOR
76:books
398:ISBN
384:2022
352:ISBN
333:2022
294:RVSM
62:news
252:TOD
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