Toured an Airbus A400

[y_p_w]

It’s interesting. I think many people would prefer to use one hand or the other for manipulating control equipment. Anyone training to fly these planes would be using their right hand until they were training to be captain, but now they would be using their left hand. Also, left brained people ( who tend to be right handed, would be using their left hand to operate the joy stick.) Then there are right brained people who tend to be left handed and are known to be talented arty people, who shouldn’t be flying airplanes. Flame suit on.

Even most center sticks are obviously designed around right handed thumb control.

I personally would freak out if I had to drive a right-hand drive manual transmission. There's just too much muscle memory. However, I'm sure that pilots get plenty of simulator time before trying out the real thing. I mean - lefties learn how to drive when everything in a car is based on primarily using the right foot. I've learned how to use my left foot to engage a clutch pedal. These are things that seem like they're fixed, but they're still learned.

 

[Number_35]

Even most center sticks are obviously designed around right handed thumb control.

I personally would freak out if I had to drive a right-hand drive manual transmission. There's just too much muscle memory. However, I'm sure that pilots get plenty of simulator time before trying out the real thing. I mean - lefties learn how to drive when everything in a car is based on primarily using the right foot. I've learned how to use my left foot to engage a clutch pedal. These are things that seem like they're fixed, but they're still learned.

We lived in NZ for a year, and drove a mid-engined van with a 5-speed manual transmission with a floor-mounted shifter.

Both my wife and I adapted quickly to shifting with the "wrong" hand. (I am left-handed, so that may have helped, but she was completely fine with it too.)

The pedal arrangement was the same as here - clutch, brake, gas, from L to R.

The weird thing was test-driving a van with a column-shifted 5-speed.

 

[wpod]

AF 447 was much more a matter of startle effect (amygdala hijack), and poor training, than of differential input.

In the several minutes in which the airplane was stalled and descending, there was a couple seconds of dual input.

It made no real difference in the outcome.

But the whole time, the flying pilot did not understand what was happening, nor how to correct the stall.

On an airliner is a correction for a stall to level or nose down to get the wing flying again?

 

[slo town]

AF 447 was much more a matter of startle effect (amygdala hijack), and poor training, than of differential input.

In the several minutes in which the airplane was stalled and descending, there was a couple seconds of dual input.

It made no real difference in the outcome.

But the whole time, the flying pilot did not understand what was happening, nor how to correct the stall.

I agree with your comments. It was far more than differential inputs. That Air France flight crew was disgracefully incompetent. If there was ever a case of pilot error, Air France #447 was it.

Scott

 

[Snagglefoot]

It’s interesting. I think many people would prefer to use one hand or the other for manipulating control equipment. Anyone training to fly these planes would be using their right hand until they were training to be captain, but now they would be using their left hand. Also, left brained people ( who tend to be right handed), would be using their left hand to operate the joy stick.) Then there are right brained people who tend to be left handed and are known to be talented arty people, who shouldn’t be flying airplanes. Flame suit on.

When you play video games with a joystick ( think MS Sidewinder) , which hand do you use?

I just read Boeing still uses yokes, even with fly by wire. So it’s mainly European planes ( and some US military planes) that use Side Sticks.

 

[Astro14]

On an airliner is a correction for a stall to level or nose down to get the wing flying again?

Generally, unloading the wing (less than 1 G) and full thrust gets you a stall recovery. Might take a while.

Several things make it different than, say, a 172. The swept wing has a much less defined stall and you can get deeper into it. The relationship between Mach number, true airspeed and indicated airspeed complicates the performance of the wing at high altitude. Turbofan engines make significantly less power at altitude (pistons fall off in power even quicker, but 172s don’t get very high). Flight control systems with all-flying stabilizers can have more authority in the trim of the stabilizer than the elevators.

All of these can delay, or complicate recovery.

Stall is a function of AOA. Reducing AOA breaks the stall.

But, depending on circumstances, it might be a long time between breaking the AOA and actually getting the airplane into stable flight.

If, as in AF 447, the engines are at idle, spool up can take quite a while, and thrust is reduced, so getting the airplane back up to flying speed will take significant time.

If, as in AF 447, the airplane is deeply stalled, the stabilizer will have to be re-trimmed to get sufficient nose down authority to break the AOA. Re-trimming happens automatically with full nose down elevator, but it will take about 30 seconds.

It’s complicated. And it’s not always instant.

 

[carviewsonic]

Those are quite the many-bladed props.

 

[mk378]

What are those dome like things on the center console by the pilots other hand?

 

[E365]

What are those dome like things on the center console by the pilots other hand?

It’s a cursor/trackball/button device. You rest your palm on the dome-shaped thing and then can steadily move the trackball and cursor to interact with various functions on the screens.

Here’s an A350 video showing it a tad.

 

[billt460]

I'm curious if these have the same flight characteristics as the commercial line (A320-A350...etc) where you are "managing" the aircraft rather than actually flying it (a la Boeing).

I've heard it put another way... "A Boeing is an airplane with a computer in it... An Airbus is a computer with wings on it".

 

[Cujet]

The sidestick controllers (joystick) in our G600 have motors that move both simultaneously, called "active control sidestick". The pilot and copilot can't unknowingly fight each other. I am not sure if the motors can be overpowered, they can take lot of force, without issues. There are safety factors built in, and if one fails, it can disconnect.

 

[billt460]

God that's a beautiful cockpit!

 

[NismoNVT]

Airbus really works wonder with their approach to glass cockpits and modern systems. Heard that their whole inspiration behind FWB, and Glass cockpits were them reading about a cancelled but released to the public future concept from MD. Today MD is a distant memory and Airbus still in business.

 

[billt460]

MD was consumed by Boeing.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

I can clearly hear these flying over at 30.000 ft

The loudest prop plane i ever heard flying over at those alttitudes is an antonov an12.

 

[Jetronic]

Had one flying over today while walking the dog. Not at 30,000 ft though more like 2000 ft.... yeah they are loud.

 

[Klarque420]

MD was consumed by Boeing.

MD consumed any and all logical thinking from Boeing.

 

[kschachn]

MD was consumed by Boeing.

Sort of. If you ask Boeing it was the other way around

One phrase in Seattle was “Douglas bought Boeing with Boeing money” or something like that.

 

[billt460]

Sort of. If you ask Boeing it was the other way around

One phrase in Seattle was “Douglas bought Boeing with Boeing money” or something like that.

It's much like the airlines. The big strong one's gobble up the weak ones when they're most financially vulnerable.

 

[billt460]

What happens on a dual side stick control, if when flying in manual mode, one pilot pulls up, while the other pilot pushes down?... Or one rolls in left aileron, while the other rolls right?