Originally Posted by
Dudule54
...........I mean the main goal in checking flight controls is to make sure you’re seating position is correct so you can have full deflection of all flight controls without having to make uncomfortable body movements and doing this while taxiing is, in my opinion, too late to figure out that you’re not seating properly as changing your seat settings while taxiing is not the best move to do… Plus it makes the PM watching the SD for a long time while moving on congested taxiways on sometimes complex airports where you’d better check what goes on outside…
All the other airplanes I’ve flown had SOPs requiring flight controls to be checked with parking brake ON after the engine start up and before taxiing.
Do you guys have a clear explanation on why is it so ?
Thx
Negative, Ghostrider. The controls check is primarily to ensure that the correct flight control surfaces move in the correct directions following control inputs - AND that they move to their fullest extent. Your seating position should have been worked out and your numbers memorised during your SIM training. Both pilots perform the controls check separately so that both side-sticks are independently checked before take-off.
The check can only be done after all hydraulic services are on line - i.e. after all the engines are running, but doing the check after pushback either holds up other ramp traffic or cannot be done because not all engines might be running at this point. Therefore this is normally done during a quiet, straight taxi segment.
Most busy airports - even New York, Paris and Rome have a suitable taxi segment. If not, the control check can be done at the runway holding point, before calling 'ready'.
The most important thing is to check correct movement of the flight controls, according to the inputs. Our SOP used to be always the same sequence: "full up, full down, full left, full right, rudders: full left, full right." But pilots pointed out that this invalidated the test because the person checking the SD would just say the next words on the script, even if that was not what they saw.
Our SOP was then changed to be in any order but one plane at a time. Most pilots continued to use the original sequence, but I didn't. On more than one occasion, the PM would say "full left" when I was holding full right for example. I would hold my side-stick where it was and ask "are you sure ?", at which they would look again and then get the correct answer. This proved our concerns about the dangers of always following the same sequence.
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