777 questions
Having just enjoyed my first trip in a 777 (LHR-EZE and return) I'm curious about one or two things and hope this might be the right forum to ask them.
1. On the outbound flight I was sitting in 10A, which gave an excellent view of the engine and in particular the strake on the inboard side of it. At rotation a very powerful visible vortex was shed from the forward edge of this, which made its way over the top of the engine and still appeared to be going strong well aft of the trailing edge. I've seen something similar on a 737 but it was nowhere near as energetic! Is the strake there to generate the vortex? If so, why? Or does it serve some other purpose and is the vortex a by-product?
2. Both landings were so gentle as to be almost imperceptible. I'm sure this was mainly due to immaculate piloting technique, but is the triple-wheeled undercarriage something to do with this?
3. On the return flight I was sitting in 15K, which gives a very good view of the wing. Coming down the approach I was trying to puzzle out the lateral control system. This seemed to involve at least four spoiler panels, a flap section that also seems to work as a low-speed aileron (with some very large deflections) and also an outboard aileron that I hardly saw move at all. I don't remember seeing other airliners with similarly elaborate lateral control -- is the 777 unusual in this respect?
As one who's strictly a light-aircraft pilot but thoroughly enjoys big aeroplanes, I'd greatly appreciate any information.
John