by RitterKreuz » Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:56 am
One thing i would like to add to the discussion is the length of airliners makes the aircraft one big seesaw.
let me provide a real life example.
You constantly have people getting up and going to the lavatory, flight attendants constantly walking up and down the aisle with their service carts etc, even fuel burn - these all change center of gravity constantly, even if only slightly.
with the autopilot on, if you had the opportunity to sit in the flight deck as i have and feel trim wheels against your leg or see them from the jump seat etc - generally they are constantly moving - re-trimming the aircraft - only if a little at a time.
it would be a full time job to hand fly an airplane such as a 737 or 747 etc in cruise flight from point A to point B
generally the practice is to hand fly the aircraft to an initial altitude about 2-3,000 ft above ground and then activate the autopilot which has been pre-set while on the ground to desired variables such as speed, altitude and heading etc.
as changes need to be made to heading or altitude - then the desired altitude or heading is selected and the system takes care of the rest.
for the most part, in the airline environment you are a "systems manager" more than you are an "aviator", with "hand flying" accounting for probably 10-15% of an actual flight.
Last edited by
RitterKreuz on Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.