Expidite your climb?

Wyoav8rntx

Wyoav8rntx

Filing Flight Plan
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Wyoav8rntx
I was departing Fullerton last Friday and in IMC when the controller asked me to expidite through 5000 since he had a 737 descending out of 5500, 12 Oclock and 3 miles. I asked for a vector, let the controller know I was at best rate. The controller came back and said that the traffic was no longer a factor, but to me it was a little to close and I was tense.

Since I was in IMC, couldn't see the traffic, what else should I have done. Any advice on how I should of handled this?
 
sounds to me like you did all you could. its not like you can flip on the SRBs if you need a little better ROC.
 
FWIW, common misconception, but "expedite" does not mean there is any immediate danger or conflict. It means the controller is asking for your best effort in order to avert/avoid a future conflict situation from developing. See AIM for details. IOW, what you did (best rate, inform controller that "what you see is what you get") is more than adequate.
 
In addition to Ed's very thorough explanation:
I've been given that direction many times; if I can give them a better rate, I do. If I can't, I respond in the manner you did. Just communicate. If the situation becomes dangerous, you should get further direction.

Best,

Dave
 
I have just started my IFR training, and interestingly enough this exact question came up with my instructor last week.

If a controller asked me for a climb at "best rate", then to me that means Vy, since that will result in most altitude over least time.

However, my instructor said he would give Vx, in order to give most altitude over least distance. His argument being that if a controller is asking for best rate climb, it's very likely for traffic separation, so gaining the most altitude in the least amount of horizontal distance will help keep the separation.

Any thoughts?

Scott.
 
my observation is that controllers work mostly in units of time, not distance. its a great equalizer between many aircraft of different speeds. they think along the lines of "in 5minutes these airplanes are going to crash into each other" not "in 10 miles this guy will hit that guy who only went 2 miles"

best rate of climb means just that, IMO.
 
Scott:

I'm in Tony's camp on this. Vy is best rate to me; you're not trying to clear an obstacle. In my plane, Vy won't work for long because of cylinder head heat management issues. I give what I can in light of CHT management. That's usually about 700 fpm for me, but can be a bit less when it's hot and the plane is full.

Best,

Dave
 
Leslie and I had this very discussion a couple of months ago. Originally, I was suggesting pitching for best angle, using Scott's [edit:] instructor's thinking. Then I realized that it truly was best rate that he wanted, especially since that's precisely what he asked for.
 
Last edited:
gprellwitz said:
Leslie and I had this very discussion a couple of months ago. Originally, I was suggesting pitching for best angle, using Scott's thinking. Then I realized that it truly was best rate that he wanted, especially since that's precisely what he asked for.
Click to expand...


Vy is what I want to use, it's my instructor that suggests Vx, hence my confusion.

Scott.
 
scooter said:
Vy is what I want to use, it's my instructor that suggests Vx, hence my confusion.

Scott.
Click to expand...

Haven't we been through this in another forum? The manufacturer says use Vx only to clear obstacles, the AIM says to use best rate when asked to expedite....what documentation is your instructor relying on?

Bob Gardner
 
Expedite means that the controller wants the best rate to prevent a situation from developing; it does not mean that a situation has already developed. For the, a controller will use the word "IMMEDIATELY". Most controllers understand that an aircraf laready in a climb will not do much better, and if an unsafe situation has developed, the immediately will be used in conjunction with a turn.
 
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