What I dont like of the Bus I.

[Chris Scott]

The "Retard"s

Quote from sudden Winds [Mar19/05:33, #9]:
The other thing I really hate is that stupid "retard" call out at 20 feet (10 ft for autoland)...Mr John Airbus, we know we have to retard the thrust levers, thank u..we ain´t that stoopid. It just bothers me because I like to hear the RA call outs as I look at the middle of the rwy to achieve a smooth centered landing.
[Unquote]

It’s not a question of being stupid. Pilots are human and, sooner or later, even the near-perfect among us will neglect to do something fundamentally important.

And, let’s face it, remembering to close the throttles/thrust levers on touchdown is very important on the Airbus, with its non-driven throttle levers, when you are using A/Thr. [For the uninitiated, they are both in the CLB-thrust detent throughout the approach in A/Thr.] The A/Thr will, of course, select idle for you, which gives an aural signal that all is normal; so no warning there.

What happens next will depend partly on your airline’s SOP for selection of reverse thrust. If the latter is to be performed by the PNF, it will be natural for the PF to remove his/her hand from the throttles on touchdown. If the throttles are still in the CLB detent, the PNF’s hand may arrive at the throttles in a manner unsuited to the necessity to CLOSE them first, then select reverse. In a dimly-lit cockpit on a dark, foggy night, there is a high risk of throttle mis-selection by the PNF in the event that they have been left in the CLB detent, particularly on a rough runway.

My preference is for the PF to select ‘his’ own reverse, which ameliorates the above scenario. Unfortunately, my own airline went down the road of delegating the task to the PNF; in the interests of cross-type standardisation. Some airlines even give the PNF autonomy to decide WHEN reverse is selected; thus presenting the PF with a fait-accompli (i.e., denying the PF the possibility of a go-around) once he/she has first removed hand from the throttles.

The “Retard” auto-callout has to cover the range of A/Thr landings from manual/calm/CAVOK to Autoland/Cat3B. In fog, when landing is more or less assured, as in the case of “NO” Decision Height, there may be time to remind yourself, just before the flare, that you must not forget to close the throttles on touchdown. In marginal Cat3A conditions, with a DH of (say) 50ft, there is even more scope for it to be forgotten.

In 14 years on type, the ‘Retard’ auto-callout never annoyed me; but it certainly seemed a very perceptive description of some of the guys I flew with! If you want an occasional break from the ‘Gringo’, of course, you can use manual thrust − weather and SOPs permitting. Manual Thrust is one of the best features of the Airbus.