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Old 28th Jul 2011, 21:27
  #849 (permalink)  
PJ2
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: BC
Age: 76
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airtren;

Yes, the phrase "do nothing" doesn't really describe what one really does and should do when a UAS event occurs. One does something, but the goal is level, stable flight or a return to same with an establishing of the former cruise attitude and power - the goal isn't "5 degrees up, then sort it out" because that destabilizes the aircraft making it difficult to "find home" again.

Control in moderate to heavy turbulence is an issue dealt with in the FCOM - the SOP is clear: in addition to reducing Mach and disconnecting the auto-thrust, one also lets the speed and altitude wander slightly. How much is up to the pilot because the manuals cannot provide rules for everything. I've seen excursions between green dot and VMO, and +/- 300ft - the airplane "rides downhill or uphill" - it doesn't "fall"...(getting rid of the notion of the "air pocket" has been one of the toughest nuts to crack!) Temperature (SAT), wind shears of 60 to 80kts in short time periods, will result in all kinds of local instability which make control of the aircraft difficult, if only because it is tough to hang onto the stick in such conditions. So it's a factor, given all. My sense of it being a factor here is that it wasn't, or that it was light, possibly moderate but nothing more, but that's just me.
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