AIRCRAFT CONF

Forum dedicated to Microsoft FS2004 - "A Century of Flight".

Re: AIRCRAFT CONF

Postby 727 driver » Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:39 am

WOW great youtube video,,and thank you  for sharing that..when i flew ultralights we flew right on the coast.plum island 2b2 in the sim .. and always crosswind for the most part ..the 1st thing the instructor said to the class..was... avoiding crosswinds beyond a certain severity is wisdom in action,,,of course airlines need to go for the most part and need to do there jobs...however in small planes and aircraft such as ultralights..theres another famous quote...that is... takeing off is an option....landing is a necessity..and even with them a crab approach is recommended then adjusting for centerline during the flare ...cross controls is called a foward slip..in sailplanes we use cross controls all the time  to preform a foward slip only to burn off altitude not to counter a cross wind we crab in with those too ..this poor guy in the vidoe looks like he had a bad day..thanks again nav..
nav 2 questions,,do you know of a site that gives that kind of info for the 757 300 and the 777 200..reading info that airline pilots post is the most intresting to me..but my search has not came up with anything that came close to yours..and the other question do you know if the a300 b4 a300 600 uses the same systems posted at the site you gave us or is that more a less older tech to your knowledge ..


You're on the right track with the A300/310, 727 driver, they had conventional yokes and linkages, they were 'pre-fly-by-wire.' The first FBW Airbus (with, as Hagar says, added 'pilot-calming' measures applied by way of a computer interposed between the controls and the the control surfaces) was the A320.

Trouble is, it's a huge subject (probably outside the scope of a 'hobby' site). I don't know of any 'how-to-do' sites about Boeings, but they're not really necessary as Boeing's design philosophy is firstly to build in 'control feel,' and secondly to leave the final say with the pilot. So they fly much like any other aeroplane.

Best example of the difference between the two types that I can think of is that, in a Boeing, if the pilot pulls the nose up too much for a given speed and power setting, the 'system' will let him do it - but there'll be all sorts of stall warnings, like a 'stick shaker' and klaxons and flashing lights. In an Airbus the 'systems' will overrule the pilot and simply trim the nose down to a safe angle, regardless of how hard the pilot 'pulls back.'

My own impression (also from talking to pilots) is that the Airbus is very easy to fly in 'normal' conditions (very 'point and shoot,' whereas the Boeing requires more physical effort and 'seat of the pants'); but that in difficult conditions the Airbus is 'tricky' (mainly because of the lack of 'feel' and the delayed responses), and therefore the Boeing has the edge.

To me, one of the key areas is 'crossing the controls.' Pleased to say that you can 'read all about that' on here if you like :):-

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=COF;action=display;num=1129643666

The Airbus A320 Flight Crew Operating Manual says this about crosswind landings:-

"Before flare height, heading corrections should only be made with roll. As small bank angles are possible and acceptable close to the ground, only small heading changes can be envisaged. Otherwise, a go-around should be initiated.

"Use of rudder, combined with roll inputs, should be avoided, since this may significantly increase the pilot's lateral handling tasks. Rudder use should be limited to the "de-crab" maneuver in case of crosswind, while maintaining the wings level with the sidestick in the roll axis."


One part of that is plain wrong, IMO - I was always taught that in a stiff crosswind you shouldn't land with the 'wings level'; you should drop the upwind wing enough to make sure that the wind doesn't get under it and the upwind wheel touches down first. Easy to do in most aeroplanes because you can apply roll and rudder in opposite directions at any time - but apparently you can't do that in an Airbus until the very last moment, because this may "significantly increase the pilot's lateral handling tasks."

So that business of only straightening out at the last minute worries me. Purely my own opinion, there's been no Accident Report yet; but I can't help wondering if it was uncoordinated and/or excessive last-minute use of sidestick and rudder that caused this recent incident at Hamburg:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAl1IJYx0C8
727 driver
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