Originally Posted by silverelise
SLF question about ditching in the Airbus (mods feel free to move somewhere more apt if needs be).
Do you have to override any of the flight management systems or change to one of the different "laws" in order to get the aircraft near the ground without being in a landing configuration (eg. gear still up etc).
Well, if you've heard about Airbus' "Flight Control Laws", you might have read at a bit more on it. Some of the basics ideas are certainly available on-line.
The difference between conventionally controlled and Airbus fly-by-wire could be summarized (somewhat simplified) thus:
- In a conventionally controlled aircraft the flight controls deflect the control surfaces with a fixed ratio, and aerodynamic forces move and turn the aircraft. It is the pilot's responsibility to compensate for varying conditions.
- in an Airbus FBW aircraft the flight controls tell the computer how the pilot wants the plane to move and turn, and the computers deflect the control surfaces in such a way that it moves and turns exactly as requested, with the computer(s) compensating for varying conditions.
That said, any aircraft will fly wherever the pilot tells it to fly, including straight into a mountain or smoothly down onto the Hudson.
It will give you a warning when you get too low to the ground with the gear and/or flaps retracted, or approach terrain too fast, but all modern airliners will do that, it's part of the EGPWS, and not Airbus-specific. For a forced landing/ditching some or all of these warnings can be disabled to avoid distractions.
What someone has pointed out, the ability of the Airbus to maintain the bank angle (even automatically return it to 0 if it is below 5 degrees) may have helped a bit with the ditching, but in relatively calm conditions the differences to, say, a 737 shouldn't be dramatic.
Cheers,
Bernd