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Captain

Captain

Final Approach
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
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8,006
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NOYB
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Display name:
First Officer
Passed my check ride last night. After a two hour ride with the check airman, a Fed observing the ride and my instructor sitting left seat I got a new paper cert and a hole punched in my old one.

A320 got added.

:)
 
Pretty excited...
 
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Congrats!

Airbus-flightdeck.jpg
 
Lol, yup. That's about right.

The A320 is stupid easy to fly. Full auto land with our minimum vis being only 300 feet RVR and that's only so we can taxi in after landing. Im a big fan of the side stick...it frees up the area where the yoke would be and makes it super comfortable.
 
Captain said:
Lol, yup. That's about right.

The A320 is stupid easy to fly. Full auto land with our minimum vis being only 300 feet RVR and that's only so we can taxi in after landing. Im a big fan of the side stick...it frees up the area where the yoke would be and makes it super comfortable.
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Sounds like fun. Good luck on the new job.
 
Captain said:
Lol, yup. That's about right.

The A320 is stupid easy to fly. Full auto land with our minimum vis being only 300 feet RVR and that's only so we can taxi in after landing. Im a big fan of the side stick...it frees up the area where the yoke would be and makes it super comfortable.
Click to expand...

I have yet to find it "stupid easy to fly", but then again, you are new to the airplane. Welcome. Line flying is different than sim.
 
Captain said:
...I'm a big fan of the side stick...it frees up the area where the yoke would be and makes it super comfortable...
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What's the difference between Boeing and Airbus pilots? A Boeing pilot has something between his legs. :lol:
 
Captain said:
Lol, yup. That's about right.

The A320 is stupid easy to fly. Full auto land with our minimum vis being only 300 feet RVR and that's only so we can taxi in after landing. Im a big fan of the side stick...it frees up the area where the yoke would be and makes it super comfortable.
Click to expand...

Taxi? I thought you had SCMODS these days. Something about ground beacons and such for lo vis environments.





(State County Municipal Offender Data System)
 
Captain said:
...The A320 is stupid easy to fly...
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This brings up a question: if I'm on a trans continental flight do I want a pilot up front who thinks that what he's doing is "stupid easy"? :dunno:
 
Silvaire said:
This brings up a question: if I'm on a trans continental flight do I want a pilot up front who thinks that what he's doing is "stupid easy"? :dunno:
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I was told it was an easy airplane to fly. Personally I don't think that's the case. I find it very different.. Like a friend of mine said, learning the Bus is like using a PC for 20 years, than someone handing you a Mac Book and insisting you be an expert in three weeks. I found it to be a very different airplane. YMMV.
 
I've been working on them for years and well, I suppose so long as everything works perfectly, but then I never get called to work on one that is working perfectly. I still find the whole flight control system with the ELAC's and SEC's a bit bewildering, certainly a lot different from Boeing's. Even the hydraulics are a bit weird.
 
Silvaire said:
This brings up a question: if I'm on a trans continental flight do I want a pilot up front who thinks that what he's doing is "stupid easy"? :dunno:
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Would you rather a pilot who was struggling to keep up with a 'difficult to fly plane'?
 
Silvaire said:
This brings up a question: if I'm on a trans continental flight do I want a pilot up front who thinks that what he's doing is "stupid easy"? :dunno:
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Like the crew of AF447?
(yeah I know that was an A330, but same concept)
 
Captain said:
Would you rather a pilot who was struggling to keep up with a 'difficult to fly plane'?
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No and that's why I asked the question, is that what's going to happen if something breaks and it's no longer "stupid easy"?
 
Silvaire said:
No and that's why I asked the question, is that what's going to happen if something breaks and it's no longer "stupid easy"?
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Why are you picking a fight? I'm typed in it and I think it's easy to fly...and I didn't get much time in the sim where things weren't broke.

Hater's gonna hate...
 
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Sorry I guess the term " stupid easy" just rubbed me the wrong way but I understand the concept of exaggeration for effect and didn't mean to pick on you personally.

BTW congratulations.
 
Silvaire said:
Sorry I guess the term " stupid easy" just rubbed me the wrong way but I understand the concept of exaggeration for effect and didn't mean to pick on you personally.

BTW congratulations.
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No worries. I guess I was exaggerating a bit, but honestly the plane is very easy to fly. The effort will come from maintaining proficiency.
 
Captain said:
No worries. I guess I was exaggerating a bit, but honestly the plane is very easy to fly. The effort will come from maintaining proficiency.
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Just curious... What airplane did you fly prior to the Bus, and why do you think the Bus is easy?

My experience:
Heaviest airplane I flew prior was 36,000 lbs. slowing the Bus, yet keeping up speed in terminal area, was a real challenge for me.

Outside of the "Normal Law" which almost eliminates stalls and rolls, why is the Bus easy? I mean, have you put a crossing restriction in the box yet? Manage this and pull that??

The Bus will automatically slow for approach speed to accommodate the third world pilot.. Problem is we don't live in a third world country. ATC dictates our speed and slow down, not the programmer for Airbus. That function is useless, and always ignored.
But.. In the sim there is no ATC so yes, that seems easy.
 
Kritchlow said:
Just curious... What airplane did you fly prior to the Bus, and why do you think the Bus is easy?

My experience:
Heaviest airplane I flew prior was 36,000 lbs. slowing the Bus, yet keeping up speed in terminal area, was a real challenge for me.

Outside of the "Normal Law" which almost eliminates stalls and rolls, why is the Bus easy? I mean, have you put a crossing restriction in the box yet? Manage this and pull that??

The Bus will automatically slow for approach speed to accommodate the third world pilot.. Problem is we don't live in a third world country. ATC dictates our speed and slow down, not the programmer for Airbus. That function is useless, and always ignored.
But.. In the sim there is no ATC so yes, that seems easy.
Click to expand...


Heaviest plane I've flown is 197k. Don't think that's an issue though. The Bus flies itself. Holds pitch and bank. FADEC, ECAM, It goes on and on. If an engine hangs on start it restarts itself....my god, its hardly flying. Sorry, I have 10k plus hours and I. Not at all overwhelmed by this plane. I love the bus and appreciate the automation. I promise I'll be able to manage energy and fly in the system...not a problem.
 
Kritchlow said:
Just curious... What airplane did you fly prior to the Bus, and why do you think the Bus is easy?

My experience:
Heaviest airplane I flew prior was 36,000 lbs. slowing the Bus, yet keeping up speed in terminal area, was a real challenge for me.

Outside of the "Normal Law" which almost eliminates stalls and rolls, why is the Bus easy? I mean, have you put a crossing restriction in the box yet? Manage this and pull that??

The Bus will automatically slow for approach speed to accommodate the third world pilot.. Problem is we don't live in a third world country. ATC dictates our speed and slow down, not the programmer for Airbus. That function is useless, and always ignored.
But.. In the sim there is no ATC so yes, that seems easy.
Click to expand...


Heaviest plane I've flown is 197k. Don't think that's an issue though. The Bus flies itself. Holds pitch and bank. FADEC, ECAM, It goes on and on. If an engine hangs on start it restarts itself....my god, its hardly flying. Sorry, I have 10k plus hours and I'm not at all overwhelmed by this plane. I love the bus and appreciate the automation. I promise I'll be able to manage energy and fly in the system...not a problem.
 
Captain said:
Heaviest plane I've flown is 197k. Don't think that's an issue though. The Bus flies itself. Holds pitch and bank. FADEC, ECAM, It goes on and on. If an engine hangs on start it restarts itself....my god, its hardly flying. Sorry, I have 10k plus hours and I'm not at all overwhelmed by this plane. I love the bus and appreciate the automation. I promise I'll be able to manage energy and fly in the system...not a problem.
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But fadec and ecam (style) is nothing new to Airbus... Sheesh, I've been flying that stuff with corporate airplanes. Nothing new there. If you thing an engine start hang is a big deal.... Yikes.
Let me get this straight ... If an airplane holds pitch that makes it super simple to fly?? Doesn't every airplane do that when trimmed? Although your flight time is a bit low, you likely will eventually be okay flying the Bus.
 
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Kritchlow said:
But fadec and ecam (style) is nothing new to Airbus... Sheesh, I've been flying that stuff with corporate airplanes. Nothing new there. If you thing an engine start hang is a big deal.... Yikes.
Let me get this straight ... If an airplane holds pitch that makes it super simple to fly?? Doesn't every airplane do that when trimmed? Although your flight time is a bit low, you likely will eventually be okay flying the Bus.
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Why don't you guys just go get the ruler out...
 
brien23 said:
Just how much longer till the pilots job is gone.:rolleyes2:
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Never IMO

The subconscious reason the folks in the back feel safe is because they know the guys up front are human and have skin in the game.
 
MauleSkinner said:
I was told there was a F.A.T.S. button for that...:dunno:
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Lol!!! I never said the Bus was easy, so...

Normally it flys in ""Normal Law". That said, jet upset or mfors (multiple failures of redundant systems) can get the jet into abnormal law, which depending on the reason may return to normal law. There is also "direct law", and "mechanical law".

The "laws" are basically what the computers will allow the airplane to do. Normal law for example will limit the bank angle to 67 degrees, but if you let the stick go it will return to 33 degrees. Also if you pitch down too far, the stick will resist. If the jet is upset from wake and rolls 167 degrees, it cannot return to normal law. Now there is an entirely new set of limitations. Multiple failures also affect the different laws, all of which have unique limitations.
 
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Why ask about heaviest airplane? I've taken off in a 407k 767-300ER and it was easy as pie (just don't overspeed the flaps). Back into the terminal area? Piece of cake. Of the two the 75 takes more planning because it doesn't want to slow down. Maybe it's an airbus thing?

Most difficult airplane to fly in my career? T-38. Underpowered, under-winged and only weighed about 10k# if I remember correctly. 4k# of fuel full I remember...
 
I've never quite understood that "heaviest airplane you've flown" thing, either. Mesaba used to ask on interviews about flying something over 20,000 lbs...fortunately I had the good sense not to say the first thing that came to mind (rare for me), which was "if you have a decent training program, the transition shouldn't be a problem."

Of course, the FAA now says you have to have flown a simulator representing something over 40,000 lbs before you're qualified to take the ATP written. The new written must be tough!:lol:
 
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