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#31
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Capt.Doug wrote:
4 days. I popped into the A-330/340 simulator next door and it looked almost exactly the same inside. To change from the -330 to the -340, the sim tech pulls the 2 lever 'throttle' quandrant, plugs in a 4 lever quadrant, and reboots. Airbus people tell me that the A-380 will be similar. Some minor changes in the A-380 flight deck layout, from the pics I've seen. The pitch trim wheel wouldn't flank the throttle and would instead be a pickle-switch in the joystick. There's also a gray, soap-like mouse wheel just below the FMGS console. I suspect that the FMGS itself would also be a whole new animal inside familiar exteriors. I saw the A-380 here in Dubai the other day and couldn't help feeling that with its dihedral, it'd be quite a task trying to roll it with any alacrity if used as a cargo aircraft. Or would that not be a problem? Ramapriya |
#32
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![]() "Ramapriya" wrote I saw the A-380 here in Dubai the other day and couldn't help feeling that with its dihedral, it'd be quite a task trying to roll it with any alacrity if used as a cargo aircraft. Or would that not be a problem? And you would want to roll it, why? -- Jim in NC |
#33
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Morgans wrote:
"Ramapriya" wrote I saw the A-380 here in Dubai the other day and couldn't help feeling that with its dihedral, it'd be quite a task trying to roll it with any alacrity if used as a cargo aircraft. Or would that not be a problem? And you would want to roll it, why? -- Jim in NC er... to change directions in the air, Jim. I hope it isn't another insinuation :\ Ramapriya |
#34
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"Ramapriya" wrote
I saw the A-380 here in Dubai the other day and couldn't help feeling that with its dihedral, it'd be quite a task trying to roll it with any alacrity if used as a cargo aircraft. Or would that not be a problem? I'm betting that all of the A-380s wind-up in all cargo service. :-) Bob Moore |
#35
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![]() "Ramapriya" wrote er... to change directions in the air, Jim. I hope it isn't another insinuation :\ No, No, No. Why does everyone think I am insinuating things. I'm really a nice guy, to people who are nice to me. You have not been put in any other category, by me. My question is why would the cargo use make the roll being different than a passenger use? Also, I always thought excessive dihedral would just require more rudder, and that it would return to level flight more easily. What is your concern? I don't get it. -- Jim in NC |
#36
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At least the cabin crew won't bust you for being on "baby mins"!
Lots more seats than our carrier (JBL) who are you with? Bush On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:43:05 GMT, "Capt.Doug" wrote: I'm writing this while cruising at FL370, staring at a bright half-moon through the windscreen, waiting for falling stars. There isn't a cloud in the sky tonight. I have my laptop sitting on a pull-out tray in front of me and plugged into a 110V outlet. The cockpit is quiet, as are the radios this time of night. We are cleared direct destination. Most of the pax are asleep. There isn't much to do, so I thought I'd share some thoughts about the Bus. I went through the company's assimilation program and received a type-rating without ever touching a real Bus. I followed my standard training program mantra- Cooperate, Graduate. Unlike previous training on other types, Bus training didn't focus on knowing every nut and bolt, but rather focused on things that pilots can control from the cockpit. Common sense prevails at last. Even with common sense, there is a lot to learn. The flight manual has 1600 pages divided into 4 volumes. Add to that some Jeppesons, a quick reference handbook for emergencies, and a company operating manual, and the old flight bag gets heavy. Fortunately, I've found that in practice most of these publications are seldom used. If there is a problem, the airplane will tell us. Then it will tell us what to do about the problem. The flight management computers have a chart database, so the Jepps are set to the side quite often. The FADECs calculate maximum N1 speeds. The FMS calculates maximum altitudes. Rarely do we need to pull out a publication. The airplane has it's own laptop with all the above documents on it plus more, such as the minimum equipment list. Unlike the printed version, the laptop has a search function which simplifies finding procedures. The laptop also contains the performance tables for every runway we can access worldwide. For ATIS, I hit a button and the printer spits out a written ATIS for me. The printer spits out the weight and balance too. It's so easy and yet I had to study so hard! My first flight in the real airplane was sweet. That airplane was less than a month old. It smelled new. The carpets weren't sticky. The seat cushions weren't torn or flat. The cockpit is larger than my previous ride. I don't hit my head on the overhead switches when getting into the seat (hopefully the B-727 fire handle scars on my scalp will dissappear before I lose all my hair). There is room for my overnight bag, so I no longer worry that a passenger will deplane with my clothes. The seats are electric just like a luxury car, though they won't fully recline. Each pilot is surrounded by 5 cold air vents which really do cool us off. The windows don't leak in the rain so I won't have de-ice fluid running down my leg this winter. There are built-in window shades on the side windows. Just pull them down and hook them in place. The sewer stench from the front lavatory that overwhelmed us with regularity on my old ride is pleasantly missing on the Bus. The pre-flight is simpler. Test the fire detection, turn on the seatbelt sign, and check the flightplan in the FMS. The exterior pre-flight is simpler too which does bother me. It is nice to fly an airplane I can walk under, however I can't get into the wheel-wells or avionics compartments because I can't reach them. I can't run my fingers across the top of the wing to check for ice unless I call maintenance to bring a lift-truck. On the plus side, the APU runs so quiet I don't need earplugs. I don't need to stand on tippy-toe to access the fueling panel. I don't need to hop on a belt-loader to check the fan blades for damage. This particular airplane is so new that the manufacturing stamps are still visible on the backside of the turbine blades. Starting the engines is easier. I no longer have to hold the start switches in place. I simply flip the switch to 'ON', and the computers do the rest. The computers will shut off the fuel and continue motoring the engines if a hot-start happens. Then they will try a second start. If that is unsuccessful, the computers will tell us to call maintenance. The computers will also tell us if we missed anything important on the checklist such as arming ground spoilers, arming auto-brakes, setting flaps, or turning on the transponder. Taxiing takes some care. Sitting higher than I'm used to makes me think I'm going slower than I really am. The airplane wants to taxi at 40 knots at ground idle. For the first few taxi outs, I had to refer to the groundspeed read-out to keep from spilling the coffee while turning. Riding the brakes lightly is okay, which took some getting used to because I'm programmed to to use brakes as little as possible. The brakes are carbon fiber which prefer to be a little warm rather than stone-cold. As with the brakes, I'm programmed to always stow the armrests for take-off and landing. On the Bus, it is preferable to have the armrests down for better control of the joystick. It still feels a bit strange to have the armrests down for landing and take-off. The sidestick itself didn't feel strange, maybe because I've flown sidestick before in a homebuilt. The my first take-off was a rush. I chose to use maximum power which gave us a weight to thrust ratio of 2.4 to 1. We were off the ground in about 3500 feet. The initial climb rate was like being in a 20 series Learjet. Reducing to climb power still gave us 4400 feet/minute. Climbimg through FL300 had us doing better than a 1000 feet/minute. We settled at FL370 at M.78 burning 4800 pounds/hour. We were burning 2.4 times as much fuel as a Lear 25, but carrying 19.7 times as many passengers. The descent is handled by the FMS for best fuel efficiency. I just sit back and watch it do it's thing, crossing restrictions and everything. In my previous rides, I flew climb and descent profiles that weren't in the manual but could beat the flightplan's fuel burn figures by quite a bit. I was mildly proud of myself when I discovered that the profiles I used are similar to the profiles used by the Bus to save fuel. To beat the Bus's flightplanned fuel burn, I have to use my brain. Jets don't descend and decelerate simultaneously very well. The Bus is no exception and it requires proper planning to descend for an approach. The wing feels like a glider at times. Speedbrakes come in handy and can be used when the flaps are extended. Landings are real easy. It just wants to roll on every time. It's almost too easy. I can be lazy and still have a sweet landing. I fear I might lose the golden landing touch that my previous rides have demanded of me. Studying the systems has allayed my apprehensions about the design. There are many improvements over older designs like the wiring for the fuel pumps being outside the wing. However, there are some vagaries that leave me scratching my head. There is no protection against tailstrikes. The nosewheel centering mechanism is hydraulic and has been known to blow a seal. The wingtips save fuel (2.4% increased fuel burn without them) but they look silly. Retractable landing lights cause an irritating vibration when extended. This particular plane is new, but the design is over 2 decades old and the FMS is a dinosaur compared to the new stuff. The fuselage bends and twists in turbulence, but it weighs less which saves fuel. The public address is set up to prevent an inadvertant broadcast to the passengers when replying to ATC, but the backlighting for the switch burns the fingertip like heck after a few sentences. Overall, I like my new ride. It's comfortable. At the end of the workday, I don't feel as fatigued. It's efficient. We can carry 200 passengers yet weigh about 53,000 pounds less than a B-757 at MGTOW. Passengers love it. Many of our passengers comment favorably about the Bus. The seats are wider and the temperature control is much better. The air conditioning pumps out clouds of rolling condensation from the ceiling vents on hot steamy Caribbean days (some of our less savvy passengers worry that it's smoke). Push a button during an approach in a rainstorm and non-toxic rain repellent squirts on the windscreen to help bring the runway into sight. The time has come to open the cockpit door and accept the deplaning passengers' accolades for another sweet landing as the condensation rolls out of the ceiling vents. D. |
#37
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Here's a tour of the new Airbus380. Make sure the kids and the mrs
aren't standing behind you for the last picture. :) http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/laonork/airbus/ |
#38
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Flyingmonk wrote:
Here's a tour of the new Airbus380. Make sure the kids and the mrs aren't standing behind you for the last picture. :) I didn't know they allowed the stewardii to go armed. George Patterson Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self. |
#39
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Arms? What arms? I was too distracted to see any arms... Nice
floatation devices. |
#40
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Flyingmonk wrote:
Arms? What arms? I was too distracted to see any arms... Nice floatation devices. Looks like she's packing a pair of 38s to me. George Patterson Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self. |
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