Original source: Mentour Now!
With: Ben and Petter · Petter · Ben
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This video from Mentour Now! covered a lot of ground. 13 segments stood out as worth your time. Everything below links directly to the timestamp in the original video.
Miss this distinction in the sim and your aircraft will silently stop climbing short of your clearance — here is exactly why it happens and how to fix it.
Alt Intervene Button Clears Only Restrictions Below Your Cleared Level
When ATC clears you to a higher flight level than what is programmed in the FMC, VNAV will still honour every intermediate altitude restriction and stop the climb — even if you've dialled in the new clearance on the MCP. Pressing the alt intervene button removes those restrictions one at a time, but only between your current position and your cleared level. Any restriction programmed above your cleared altitude cannot be removed with alt intervene, no matter how many times you press it.
"Altitude intervene basically cleans up anything between you and your cleared level. If there's an altitude restriction above flight level 280, no matter how many times you click, you're not going to be able to take that away."
737 Takeoff Sequence Step by Step: From 40% Thrust to VNAV
Set initial thrust to 40% to let both engines spool up symmetrically before advancing to TOGA, call rotation at 138 knots and pitch to 15 degrees, engage LNAV at 400 feet radio altitude, then connect the autopilot at 1,000 feet above ground. From there, move the speed bug to the 'up' position to accelerate, call flap retraction as speed passes each gate, and engage VNAV once clear of low-altitude airspace — at which point the FMC takes over vertical navigation and accelerates the aircraft to 250 knots.
"We go to about 40% — stabilized — so now I'm going to say set takeoff thrust."
Two-Digit Height Rule and CAT III Flare Arm Check Explained
To judge whether you have enough distance to descend, multiply the first two digits of your current altitude by three: at 15,000 feet, that means you need at least 45 miles to reach the runway. For a CAT III auto-land, arming approach mode is the trigger that allows a second autopilot to engage — without it, only one will connect. Below 1,500 feet, a 'flare' annunciation must appear on both pilots' displays; at 500 feet on the radio altimeter, each pilot independently confirms flare is armed before the aircraft commits to touchdown.
"Times your first two digits of your height by three. So 15 times 3 means we need 45 miles from where we are in order to get to the runway."
Before-Takeoff Briefing: Specific Values and the Low-Vis ILS Trick
The pre-takeoff checklist confirms flap five selected and indicated, stabiliser trim at 6.37 units, and V-speeds of 138, 138, and 143 knots, with the departure stopping at flight level 90. In low-visibility conditions at Dublin, the crew also tune the ILS before lining up so that the magenta localiser diamond on the display confirms alignment on the correct runway centreline — a simple cross-check that guards against the real risk of lining up on a runway edge marking or an adjacent runway.
"When we get on the runway, we're looking for this little magenta diamond to be right in the middle — that tells us we're on the centreline of the correct runway."
How to Enter a Direct-To Routing in the 737 FMC Without Cutting Corners
When ATC issues a direct routing to a new waypoint — in this case VABKA — line-select it from the legs page into the scratchpad, then place it at the top of the route. Before pressing execute, check that the display shows a white dashed preview line pointing toward the new waypoint, and get a verbal confirmation from the other pilot. Only after that cross-check should you execute, turning the line magenta and commanding the aircraft to turn — then verify LNAV is actively engaged.
"I look at my screen and I see that I have that white dashed line going towards VABKA. This shows you what I'm going to do if you press execute. If that's fine, I'll just call to you — happy? — and I'll execute."
CAT III Auto-Land at East Midlands: Full Sequence from Localiser to Rollout
Gear goes down at 5 miles, flaps to 15 then 40, with the approach speed set at VREF plus 5 knots and auto-brake on setting 3. The landing checklist confirms speed brake armed, three green gear indications, and flare armed on both displays — confirmed via the 500-foot radio altimeter callout from both seats. After touchdown the captain takes controls, thrust levers close, speed brake deploys, and reverse thrust is selected, bringing the aircraft to a stop with an RVR of 400 metres at touchdown and 350 at the midpoint.
"500 radio, flare armed. Passing 400 radio, flare armed."
▶ Watch this segment — 1:02:11
Below-the-Line Checklist: Taxi Light Off Signals No Takeoff Clearance Yet
Once cleared to line up and wait, the crew works through the items below the dashed line on the before-takeoff checklist: arm the autothrottle, confirm LNAV is set, select TA/RA on the transponder, and verify three lights on the MCP — master, autothrottle arm, and LNAV. The taxi light is deliberately left off as a visual crew reminder that takeoff clearance has not yet been received. Before crossing the holding point, the pilot-not-flying independently reads back the ATC clearance to eliminate confirmation bias before the runway is entered.
"We turn the taxi light off to remind us we don't have the takeoff clearance yet. That's our visual reminder."
FEDRA MILP: A Top-of-Climb Check Adapted From Light Aircraft Flying
At cruise altitude, the FEDRA MILP flow covers fuel balance, engine trend monitoring, drift-down altitude — found via the VNAV engine-out page, which in this scenario showed a maximum single-engine altitude of 23,000 feet at 226 knots — radios, altimeter standard setting, minimum safe altitude via the grid MORA for a rapid-depressurisation scenario, anti-ice status, lights, and pressurisation. The acronym was adapted from the light-aircraft FREDA check and applied to jet operations as a personal structured discipline at the top of every climb.
"M is MSA, minimum safe altitude or grid MORA — checking that if we lose the cabin and we have a rapid depressurisation, what's the lowest we can go?"
FRISK Acronym Confirms ILS Setup Before Cleared for CAT III Approach
Before being cleared for the approach, the crew runs the FRISK check: ILS frequency tuned, fix-page distance rings set at 5 nautical miles for gear-down and flap 15 and 10 miles for flap 1, ILS ident confirmed as IEME, standby instruments set to approach mode, and course verified at 268 degrees. Once cleared for the CAT III approach, approach mode is armed — enabling the second autopilot to engage alongside the first — and the approach and landing checklists follow before the cabin crew are secured.
"Approach mode armed, and now you'll see I can engage the second autopilot and it will stay in. Approach mode, command A and B."
10 Checks Flow Prepares the 737 for High-Altitude Cruise
Passing through 10,000 feet, the crew calls for the ten checks — a structured flow covering fuel balance on the progress page, lights off above the cloud layer, air conditioning and pressurisation verified with bleeds on and packs in auto, APU confirmed off, seatbelt signs assessed against turbulence, and a recall check that illuminates all warning lights momentarily to surface any latent system faults. The final step tunes 121.5 MHz — the international distress frequency — on the number-two radio box so both pilots passively monitor it throughout the cruise.
"We do something called a recall, which interrogates all of the aircraft systems to see if any little faults have manifested themselves behind the scenes."
PIOSE Framework Drives Diversion Decision to East Midlands
Faced with Stansted's unexpected closure, the crew applies the PIOSE decision model — Problem, Information, Options, Select, Execute, Evaluate — to work through diversion candidates. Luton is closest but already near capacity and sitting in the same poor weather band. Birmingham offers only a non-precision approach from the south. East Midlands has a long runway, large apron, a CAT III ILS above minimums, and is the airline's designated commercial alternate — making it the clear choice, with the option to refuel and position passengers onward to Stansted once the runway is repaired.
"If the hole in the runway means everyone is diverting, Luton can only hold maybe five or ten diversions before it's full — and we'd be last in the queue."
Config Check at Taxi: Why You Push the Thrust Levers Forward and Back
During taxi, advancing the thrust levers fully forward and then back — without actually increasing thrust — replicates the conditions of an imminent takeoff and triggers the aircraft's configuration warning system. Any misconfigured item such as incorrect flap setting, wrong stabiliser trim, or a live parking brake will produce an audible horn at that moment, while there is still time to stop safely. The crew also explains why in low-visibility conditions they hold at the Cat 3 holding point rather than the Cat 1 line, since stopping further back protects the ILS signal for other aircraft.
"If you do that and you do get a config warning — beep beep beep — something is wrong. You have to stop, set the parking brake, and most likely you've forgotten to set the flaps."
FMC Holding Fuel Display Is Wrong — Here Is How to Catch It
With 3.2 tonnes on board against a 2.5-tonne reserve, the crew has roughly 700 kilograms of usable holding fuel — approximately 14 minutes at the 737 NG's cruise burn of around 40 to 50 kilograms per minute. When the FMC's hold page displayed 1 hour 48 minutes of holding endurance, the discrepancy was immediately obvious because pilots cross-check the computer against a simple mental rule: one tonne equals roughly 20 minutes of holding in the NG, slightly more in the more fuel-efficient MAX. Trusting the FMC figure without that sanity check could lead a crew to hold far longer than their actual fuel state permits.
"If you're expecting to see 25 minutes of holding and it says 1 hour 48, you know that the computer is wrong."
Also mentioned in this video
- The pilots set the scene for the flight, detailing the low visibility weather… (2:32)
- Petter performs the 'after takeoff checklist,' which is a read-and-do sequence,… (15:19)
- The difference in automation between a 737 and an Airbus for this task, while… (22:00)
- The pilots update the FMC for their new cruise altitude, perform triple checks… (23:43)
- While Ben sets up the FMC for the diversion to East Midlands, which involves… (45:12)
- The pilots discuss the importance of briefing the cabin crew and passengers… (49:03)
- ATC for further altitude clearance, engage engine anti-ice due to temperature,… (55:56)
Summarised from Mentour Now! · 1:08:39. All credit belongs to the original creators. Streamed.News summarises publicly available video content.
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