Up, around and down

[expat]

On Wednesday we had an Air Bus doing circuits here at EDLP. It was rather strange to see an airliner doing a GA circuit. It kept very close in and was flying visual approaches, which did make it interesting to watch...........for a while. I have to say that after 2 hours of up, around and down it started to get a bit annoying.

Matt


     

[gtirob01]

hehe, I like the livery! Guess he just wanted to practice some touch and go's huh?

[beaky]

It must have been an equipment test flight of some kind(?)... I don't think it's common for that kind of training to be done with the actual plane. I could be wrong, but it seems crazy, given the operating cost of such a plane vs. two hours in an adequate simulator.

Of course, somebody's got to fly it for such a test, so it's a good opportunity for some practice for somebody...

Flying the rectangular pattern, however, is not that unusual- sometimes it just works best for traffic sequencing or to avoid bad weather near the airport. I've been on a few scheduled flights in heavies that ended with at least two legs of the "GA" pattern. And often if a heavy has to return immediately due to a problem discovered on takeoff, they may very well stay "in the pattern".

[Mictheslik]

It must have been an equipment test flight of some kind(?)... I don't think it's common for that kind of training to be done with the actual plane.

I'm pretty sure a few airlines do do circuits with the aircraft. I know that when Oasis were still in business they used to send a 747 to Prestwick or EMA to bash a few circuits.....

.mic