Is 737 sluggish compared to 777/757 and A320?
Hello,
I am not a pilot but I have gotten increasingly interested in airplanes thanks to Flight Simulator 2004 (by Microsoft).
I want to ask a question to real Boeing/Airbus pilots out there regarding the handling of the 737 versus that of the 777, 757 and the A320 (and A330 as well).
This way, I can verify if the so-called "flight dynamics engines" we flightsimmers use in MSFS are really accurate.
I find that the 737-400 and 737-800 (the two models which I have flown) are considerably more sluggish in their response when maneuvering (particularly during landing) than their similarly sized and weighted competitor - the Airbus A320-200. And even though they are bigger planes, the 757 and the 777 are also very easy to maneuver (in Flight Simulator of course).
Is this really the case with a real-life 737? And is the Airbus A320-200 more responsive than the 737-400/800, particularly when making those final course adjustments during the final phase of landing? The turning of the airlerons (to bank left or right) and/or the rudder makes the 737 respond very sluggishly whereas an Airbus responds like a "robot" (for lack of a better term) and adjusts its course without any sluggishness whatsoever. And this with both planes at or below the maximum landing weight as per mfg. specs.
This is not something I can figure out by looking at even the official Boeing specs of the various aircraft mentioned above for the only thing I could think of was doing a ratio of the take-off and landing weights (per mfg. specs) to the total rated thrust of the engines to get an idea of how powerful the engines are and found inconclusive results.
Can any pilot help me out here?
Thanks in advance,
John
Montreal, Canada