Airbus 320 Left & Right Elevator Fault

[waitec]

Does anyone have any operational procedures for this failure?

What i am really after is the manual trim technique and use of thrust to be used on final and during flare.

Thanks

[Torque2]

Do you mean something other than the drill in FCOM 3.02.27?

[Boeing 777-300ER]

I don't think much is said in FCOM 3.02.27 apart from the ECAM actions. What I presume waitec is after is the way to fly the plane.

I would think very small trim changes and see the result.

[PA38-Pilot]

Very slow trim changes, try to establish the aircraft on final fully configured as soon as you can (flaps 3 before lowering the L/G, have it stable on a 3º slope and a bit fast. Then lower the L/G to slow down and only make small corrections). Forget about trying to flare it... just put it on the runway.

[Airbus Dude]

Step 1 : A/T Off immediately

Step 2 : Slow down at least with flaps 2 and F speed

Step 3 : Never trim and use manual thrust simultaneously, make a small trim change and wait to see aircraft response, make a change in thrust and wait to see aircraft response, but don't do both at the same time.

Step 4 : Configure early and request long final.


Step 5 : Hope for the best!

Cheers!

[Fly3]

Sound advise from Airbus Dude. I would add, don't use more than 5 degrees of bank in turns.

[TyroPicard]

This is what I would do..
A/THR OFF (in the approved manner, move the T/L to the thrust you need, then push the button)
I would consider FD OFF, FPV ON.

You now need three hands to fly the a/c, so Captain flies, F/O sets thrust.

CAPT = PF. Left hand does roll (DIRECT LAW), right hand does pitch using trim wheel. If you think about this you are using the THS as an elevator. It is very powerful so make small movements. A pitch adjustment requires several movements of the wheel, and flying the a/c attitude requires all your attention. Stop thinking of the THS as a trim device, it is now your primary flying control in pitch.

F/O = PNF and sets thrust on PF orders - smoothly!

I would call for the N1 required and make small changes, allowing plenty of time and distance to establish on the approach. Don't fly minimum speeds, always fly a few knots fast at constant thrust, use SEL SPD while configuring and probably revert to Managed when fully established. On the approach aim to establish constant thrust, 5kt. fast is OK if your LDA is not critical.

Flare and Landing:
Think ahead about likely wind changes in the last few hundred feet (as you do on every approach. You do, don't you..). e.g a reducing headwind will alter the trim and give nose-down pitch, increasing headwind will make the a/c balloon..
Assuming you start with a stable approach...... As the a/c enters ground effect, it will want to pitch nose-down so you need to counteract that with a small movement of the THS. If you reduce thrust this will increase the nose-down effect, so I suggest leaving that until touchdown then a swift movement to idle. (Call it!) A small flare with the THS then at touchdown move it nose down and land the nosewheel.

[Lamboo1]

Hi Gents,

Just had my LPC/OPC & this was one of the exercises.

Not much help from the airbus texts! However here is what I learnt:

Mayday call - request long finals.

Tasks have to be split I ( f/o) / PNF was taking care of the Roll through the Side stick. Capt was taking care of speed and altitude. That was one of the combos that could work, many others out there.

A/C is easier to handle at slow speed once configured.

Configure normally, F1,F2 GD & F3.

Now for the tricky part , for the flare, at around 30-40 feet just at about 5-9% more power so that the nose will pitch up. Then reduce to idle and use the trim wheel. Once the Main gear has touched down, full reverse and both CM1 & 2 push the trim wheel forward like madmen to avoid balloning!

Hard exercise...

That my 2 cents, hope it was of some help.

[waitec]

Thank you all so much for your help.

I agree with Lamboo that there isn't much info to be found in the FCOM's. I also did a thorough chek in the 'Airbus World' portal to no avail.

Any further recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[Jim Croche]

Some excellent advice there guys. You've covered it all between you. However, wouldn't any reasonable pilot expect the FCTM to tell you this?? Not the one from TLS, I'm afraid. It's full of generalities and waffle and precious little specifics. Line pilots who don't spend half their time in the sim cannot be expected to figure it out. We need bullet points on how to fly these procedures.

[Jetset320]

As it could very well lead to an unstable approach, the possibility of a go around is extremely high.

It is very important not to make a conventional go around. Simply increasing trust slightly will raise the nose and start the manouver. Trust has then to be increased in small doses, whilst trimming forward in short bursts simultaneously.

If TOGA is applied conventionally, you are practically sure to lose it, as it will point to the sky like a rocket........ whith your speed going the other way.

I too found that CM2 handling roll, whilst CM1 handling trottles/trim, and therefore pitch (the tricky bit!), worked very well.

Lastly, we found that once on the localiser, keeping level flight with flap 3, if gear is selected down when just under half-scale below glideslope, the plane will simply pitch down to just about -3 degrees FPA, with very little trust/trim change needed therafter.