Originally Posted by
Fursty Ferret
Thing is, the order and the call-outs are written down in the FCOM. Which other SOPs do you vary for giggles?
As Airbus point out themselves the flight control check is not just waggling the sidestick. I'm following through on the F/CTL page and if I see the wrong direction my first thought is not "oh, the other pilot is keeping me awake", it's "WTF?". That distracts me.
To my knowledge Airbus does not say ‘do it in this order’. They just give an indication on how to act and verbalize the flight control check. I.e. the procedure does not tell the PF in which way to move the controls, it merely states ‘PF silently applies full longitudinal and lateral side-stick deflection’. Then it instructs PM what to say when they see the correct deflection.
Tellingly, the instruction to the PM on how to do the check is almost identical to PF: no mention of specific order, just move the controls longitudinally and laterally.
If you read the manuals too literally it will make for an interesting day out flying!