Dora - apologies if this is purely an Ansett thread. It appeared to have become a bit less parochial. I took the question 'what was it like to fly?' to be more general.
The very worst cockpits I ever saw were in the Gulf Air fleet, where there were four completely different layouts. One in particular had some really nasty navaid switching that would have you trying to fly the ILS in VOR mode if you were not really careful. Another had no less than 4 RMIs and 4 of those old cross-pointer ILS/VOR displays spread around the place but not an HSI in sight.
No crosswind landing is over until the rollout is complete....applying the gustlock at anything above taxy speed was a definite no-no and earned more that one of my trainees a severe bollicking if they did it at 50 knots. On an icy runway that almost guaranteed an unwelcome excursion, because the nosewheel itself was too lightly loaded to be anything more than an aid to taxying around corners.
The 40 psi torque limitation was a nuisance, but could be worked around. It was known that most of the potential for layshaft shuttling occured at low power settings, but considered by some engineers that the powertrain could tolerate short periods at flight idle. So, if too high and fast, the situation could usually be salvaged by pulling all the power off for a short burst, thus adding heaps of drag from the props. Don't get me started on those wonderful propellers - truly engineering masterpieces. These props were not exclusive to the F27 as all RR Darts sported a version of them. Absolutely brilliant, and the best auto-feather system even today, because it's always there if you need it.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 18th Oct 2010 at 01:58.