HarryMann, back in the previous thread at 13th Aug 2011, 10:27, #1961, and later, again expressed his concerns about the AB side stick, and presumably side sticks in general. I agree with his other points, esp. the concern that the primary flight parameter, AoA, is very, very rarely instrumented. On sidesticks, no.
Harry, I graduated after other stuff to the Victa Airtourer, #2 pupil on #1 off the line, and later instructed on it. A side stick per se is *never a problem (& you do *not have to shove a aircraft physically 'round the sky if it’s controls are well designed.) In fact, given my druthers, I'd take a side stick any day, for precision.
IMHO the control problem, and IMexperience on AB, is the quite misguided removal of the tactile and physiological feedback that is so fundamental to the driver in the quite superb working environment of the Porsche designed AB cockpit.
The fundamental problem is that there is zero interconnectedness between the sidesticks, (even out of sight to the other pilot), and this borders on the criminal stupidity. There should at very least be a panic button on the stick which would put up the other’s stick position on the AH,PFI,ADI,PFD (choose one) like any computer game. When I was young and new to types I would ask the skipper if he minded my following through, and would place my little finger on the underside of the yoke. I then quickly knew *exactly what inputs were executed to achieve the required ‘product placement’ on that A/c.
That the throttle levers do not move to echo the fuel flow demand is (IMHO) another piece of almost criminal engineering ignorance and arrogance. So easy to incorporate that it implies a deliberate attempt to remove the pilot from the loop. The non-pilot’s dream of having control of an aircraft?
That the standby instruments are also computer driven is just the acid on the cake. And no, I’m not a recidivist, in fact a long time computer nerd. It freaked me when I first moved to the AB, the way various computers would crash and need repeated rebooting (‘resetting’) pre-departure in the *early 320. I trust they’ve got that right by now.
I've previously mentioned here about a total non-flags freeze-up of both non-steam-driven gauges early in my airline career, which needed a basic-instruments recovery at night while the skipper was stuffing fuses back in, after trying to fix the autopilot. Acutely aware all my years of what can happen, I made a point of flying limited panel for a while on a leg a couple of times a month to keep my hand in (all the obvious precautions, obviously) until the fast jet -- I doubt it can be done successfully -- but would then fly on the standby a.h. in lieu of limited panel.
I also hand-flew across continents at night three times when the A/P was U/S after departure, but when solid curfews meant that the complications would be horrendous -- because I maintained the touch. I hear the howl of horror now. Believe me, having the pilot *totally in the loop is the epitome of safety! I’ve had a check captain who didn’t comprehend a trimmed A/c, and demanded the yoke be grimly clutched at all times. (Incidentally, the phugoid oscillation frequency of a 727-200 is 20 seconds, and the divergence +/- 95’. Trim it, and it sits on height +/- 100’ with no intervention. (YMwillV on other type’s.)
None of this style of activity was ever suggested officially nor was there a sim exercise, but it instilled a huge sense of security, not just in me.
Early in one of these threads I stated that, in light of the above (too personal) ramble, & given my background (Gums’ ‘touch’), and my time on AB, that there was no way that I could have been able to fly AF447 in the situation they put themselves/found themselves in.
So forget sidestick fears, Harry. It’s the total lack of tactile controls feedback to the driver, and of awareness of what the other person is doing, which lays an unacceptable demand on the visual and computational ability of the brain. Thinking about it, has there been any research published on the maximum amount of data a person can process successfully process before the *brain stalls?
The situation that has so obsessed us here was IMHO the AB computer game crashing after a sensor failure, and was just as incomprehensible to the crew. It is why I was glad to retire from the beautifully built and so elegant AB, anticipating connector corrosion implications in 18-20 year-old aircraft, and now grieve for the innocents who have suffered.
(Retires to flame-proof bomb shelter for a week
)