LH A320 Rough Landing @ Hamburg

[Chris Scott]

A320 side-stick

boofhead,

It's not that much different from the (ahhh...) "Orca" (A310), I can assure you.

On an A310, you know how much aileron you've selected, definitely. But the bottom lines are (a) roll-rate and direction of roll; (b) bank angle. When I did my A320 conversion (from the DC-10), most of the mystery disappeared on the first simulator session. It was almost a non-event, even after 20 years of control columns. The trick is: make your roll inputs short and often, except (1) rolling into, or out of, a turn; (2) on the ground (in ground law) for into-wind aileron; and (3) when you want crossed controls (briefly, as described in my previous posts). ***

Pitch inputs are also best short and often, except (1) rotation; (2) the flare, when countering the progressive forward trimming in land-mode; and (3) in recovery from a dive or steep climb.

On the ground, for T/O, you can see how much aileron/elevator you or the other pilot has selected by the white cross on your PFD, thereby avoiding "cracking" the roll-spoilers on a crosswind T/O. It's not perfect, but it works.

The main deficiency of the side-sticks (from the pilot's point of view) is that the PNF cannot easily monitor PF's inputs, while the aeroplane is airborne. [They are not inter-connected, despite what OATNetjets seems to be suggesting.] It's also rather easier - compared with a control column - to select pitch inputs, for example, when making a sudden roll input.
To answer your point about A320 pilots who move on to conventional types: YES. Because the A320 is always in the equivalent of the old "Control-wheel steering", the stab trim is always automatic. Remember the A310 in the go-around? There's a lot of forward trimming to do, and we ex-A320 pilots can easily forget it.
Hope this helps.


*** Editing POSTSCRIPT [Mar14, in the light of Post #449, Mar12/12:46, by Lemurian.]
For minor amendments to this, see my EDITED Post of Mar14/20:52, currently #474.

CROSSWIND LANDING
In airborne sideslip, (usually delayed until decrab) the sidestick roll-input must be released as soon as the desired bank is achieved. However, the opposite rudder will have the effect of lifting the lowered wing again, so you may need to reapply the roll command intermittently, elsewhere referred to as "bumping". [See Post #449, et al.] Once both main L/Gs have touched down firmly, the stick can be kept slightly displaced in the direction of the sideslip. 5 seconds later, the FBW will revert to roll-direct mode (stick-to-aileron), and continuous into-wind aileron can (and should) be applied - in the conventional manner - until the wing ceases to be vulnerable to side-gust.

CROSSWIND TAKE-OFF
A small amount of into-wind aileron can be selected before starting the T/O run, avoiding "cracking" the spoilers.* During rotation, the upwind wing tends to rise in the conventional manner, and can be countered by retaining into-wind aileron. As the main L/G lifts off, any downwind rudder will be eased off, yawing the aeroplane into wind. This will temporarily assist the aileron. Half a second after lift-off, however, Normal Law in roll is introduced. At that point, any remaining roll input needs to be released.
5 seconds after main L/G lift-off, Normal Law also becomes effective in pitch (so the white cross on the PFDs should disappear). Stick-to-elevator control is now removed, and pitch-attitude can be refined by small nudges of sidestick.

* Roll-spoiler deployment can be avoided by placing the PFD white-cross so that its inner edge is not noticeably to the side of the centre spot.