Boeing pilot flying an Airbus?

[TheSwaami]

Hi - I am a new user here, and am a passenger who's generally interested in aviation, and happy to talk to pilots about what they do :)

My question is - Can a 737 pilot fly an A320, without any practice beforehand? As in, can the 737 pilot easily pickup the controls of the A320 on the go? How about vice versa?

How about bigger planes - a 747 pilot easily picking up an A340, or a 777 picking up an A330 controls?

Are the controls for the planes standardized (I've seen Airbus uses a Joystick and Boeings use a wheel - but do they feel the same?? How about the rest of the controls?)

Apologies if the question feels a bit general...just curious :)

[redsnail]

Well, if the autopilot was in, yes. However, the sidestick "forces" versus the forces required to move the yoke are entirely different. Checkboard (hubby) recently did a conversion from the Boeing 737NG to the Airbus 319.

To fly it "cold" would be very difficult. They are designed on two different operating philosophies. One's fly by cable, the other, fly by wire.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Yes, of course. The same principles apply. Up, down, left, right. Within the standard operational limits of airliner it's pretty easy.

That's speaking as someone who flew a E195 with a real yoke and FBW in the morning, and a 320 and a 767 sim in the afternoon.

However, to fly them with the precision and finesse you expect as an operational airline pilot flying your own type is slightly more of a challenge.

[PAXboy]

TheSwaami
The answer is No.

Check the myriad number of threads on the subject, both on PPRuNe and on all other air related forums.

[PENKO]

After spilling lots of champagne in first class, the Boeing pilot will eventually figure out how to manage things on an Airbus. But it will be ugly. Then he will make a heavy landing at the end because of the little surprise that mr. Airbus has in store for him during the last 50 feet.

As an aside, even trained ex-Boeing pilots have some trouble in the beginning controlling the Airbus. The latter requires very fine wrist movements on the side stick, something which is new to the 'conventional' pilot.

And an Airbus pilot flying first time on a Boeing? He will have a very hard time with the concept of trimming, flying level in a turn, manual thrust, trimming, mechanical seats, trimming, yawing and banking, trimming, trimming, trimming, etc. And he will probably depressurize the cabin and overboost the engines in the process.

[Tim_CPL]

Well yes, if they are type rated in the relevant aircraft. In practice it is not at all likely. Could they fly it in a pinch? probably.... Would the plane be usable after the landing? Maybe! Would this only be in a film? Probably....

[TheSwaami]

Cool - sorry if this was posted around before. I tried a casual search but didn't find anything much.

While I know pilots have a conversion program, I meant just flying it cold - while I know it will never happen outside of perhaps the movies, I was just curious about the A320 versus 737, 777 versus A340 etc. Thanks :)

[PAXboy]

If I see this scenario in the disaster movie - I'll know who to blame!!! :suspect:

TheSwaami Welcome aboard our happy aircraft that, happily, has the firm hand of our Moderator Tight Slot, at the controls and he can control anything... :}

[Hotel Tango]

Well, almost anything :E

[Human Factor]

I remember my first Airbus sim ride on the conversion course after several years on the 737. Yes, dead easy without any instruction. Although clearly, several sim rides and some time with a training captain on the line educated me properly about it before I was signed off.

As a previous poster says, up, down, left, right, faster, slower works the same as any aeroplane. The big difference is that the side-stick commands a 1g trajectory instead of a control surface movement but it's intuitive and not difficult.

And he will ..... overboost the engines in the process.

The FADEC won't let you.

[PENKO]

Who says we are flying an NG version? Maybe this thread should read: put a 737-700 pilot in a 737-300 :ok:
(There is no FADEC and a host of other little headaches on the older 737's)


But anyway, you say it's dead easy, but would you really have figured out on your own without causing a little bit of chaos how the autothrust works, how to get manual thrust, what the difference between managed and selected is, when to lower the flaps etc? I don't think so! Too many gotcha's.

[wiggy]

Can a 737 pilot fly an A320,

I'd paraphrase what I said on another thread....IMVHO as someone who has Boeing time and also some time jumpseating on Airbus Flight decks I reckon a pilot trained and experienced on Boeings would almost certainly be able to fly an Airbus after a fashion, but I'm sure PENKO is right - it would be ugly and champagne certainly would be spilt :{.............

One things for certain - they'd do a much better job of it than a PPL holder with MFS time.....:p