Originally Posted by
OK4Wire
KayPam: it's really nice!
Much more responsive than the 330.
Yes indeed they wanted it to be responsive.
However the actuators are not as fast as you'd want them to be.
Originally Posted by
Sidestick_n_Rudder
@Maggot,
I think you got me wrong - the 330 is the sweetest plane to land I know of. I wondered how the 350 was, as I heard some rumors it’s not as easy and my previous mob had a couple of hard ldgs on the 350. Never heard of one on the 330
Indeed it's not that easy : there are a lot of hard landings on the 350 fleet. I really can't say any numbers because since I left a company for another company, I just forgot them but yes it's common knowledge for any 350 operator that they tend to land hard or bounce more often than other airbus models.
This is partly due to the problems below
Originally Posted by
BuzzBox
Airbus published an OEB last year that required the HUD to be selected off by 1,000 ft AGL for manual landings. The OEB was published after several operators experienced hard landings that were attributed to high sidestick activity during the flare, caused by an over sensitive HUD FPV. I suspect the pilots involved were distracted by the FPV bouncing around and missed the cues they would normally use during the flare. I believe the problem was worse at night-time, because the display is quite bright, even at the dimmest setting. A new HUD standard is now available that cancels the OEB and manual landings can once again be flown using the HUD.
The A350 isn't difficult to land, but it is different to the A330; if you flare it like an A330 you generally end up floating a long way down the runway. The A350 is also much more sensitive in pitch and roll.
The HUD was one possible cause for large pitch inputs.
But in facts, any large pitch input during final (the lowest, the worst, because you have less time to recognize the situation and go around), would lead to pilot induced oscillations. Airbus will never use this word because it would be a defect of the product they're selling us.
Obviously they're working on a solution. Maybe they certified it since I left ?
Pilot induced oscillations, on this airplane = the airplane overreacts but late, because the elevators are slow, then the pilots overreacts as well in the opposite direction. So at a given moment, the elevators will be full up, the stick full down and it reverses again and a again until either touchdown or go around.
Originally Posted by
misd-agin
“The OEB was published after several operators experienced hard landings that were attributed to high sidestick activity during the flare, caused by an over sensitive HUD FPV. I suspect the pilots involved were distracted by the FPV bouncing around and missed the cues they would normally use during the flare.”
If you’re chasing ‘the magic’, and the big ball disagrees, I’d recommend trusting the big ball.
That's very well put !
For those wondering, I work flight data analytics for an airline. I used to work for a a350 operator. But no longer.