Some of these exchanges are reminiscent of a Rumour & News thread. Perhaps we might all calm down a bit?
I'll start by admitting that my knowledge of Boeing-style FBW is negligible, and flight experience nil; rather like
BOAC's in relation to Airbus FBW.
** That's why I never presume to comment favourably or otherwise on a Boeing FBW package that seems to have many merits - as does the Airbus one. As I said, it's a pity that BOAC's condemnations are based - as in the case of
Lyman/Bearfoil - mainly on intuition and hearsay.
Lyman,
Further to your comments on Gordon Corps, have you not heard of the US Army
Corps? The American pronunciation may be different from ours, where the p and s are normally silent. However, when my airline took delivery of the A310 in 1984, and Airbus pilots were training us, there was one West African service crewed by Captains Dave Deadman and Gordon Corps.
DozyWannabe
(sorry for the spelling error in my previous),
Thought you'd appreciate "rose-tinted spectacles" in relation to a product of "la Ville Rose"?
You talk of Airbus's departure from existing flight-control-system design causing "consternation... particularly in the piloting community" I think the arguments that we in the technical study groups of BALPA and IFALPA raised in the mid-1980s in opposing the non-driven throttle levers and non-interconnected sidesticks, were correct, but their ergonomic deficiencies have caused fewer problems than we predicted. (Of course the other big concern was the general reliability of computer systems, including Airbus's decision to use modest, tried-and-tested, commercial microchips - rather than purpose-built, mathematically-correct ones - and their decision to avoid triplex architecture. It was also widely predicted that system anomalies would be untraceable by accident investigators. Nevertheless, we didn't black-ball the inevitable.)
The day after tomorrow (January 1st) will be the 25th anniversary of the start at Blagnac of the first BCAL/BA A320 pilot-conversion course (AF's first course had started a few days earlier). Except for two of us line pilots, plus a CAA inspector, the captains were BCAL management, including the A320 project manager. We had come from a variety of aircraft types: the B747-200, DC10-30, and BAC 1-11. Two of us had earlier flown the A310: from 1984-6. Once on the simulator, we quickly adapted to the sidestick, and soon learned to live with the non-driven throttle levers (which, however, provide the sweetest manual-thrust control of any aeroplane I've flown). We had to wait for the completion of mods to the electrical system, and the type to be certificated, before we could fly an aeroplane.
Gretchenfrage,
Although I see you predate me on PPRuNe, I don't recall your User Name from the many Airbus FBW discussions I've contributed to - forgive me. Judging from your post, you are in a similar position. I have no intention to belittle anyone; only to express my opinion, and challenge weak or false arguments (usually politely) when I recognise them. It's apparent on this thread that the flak is coming, as usual, almost entirely from those who are anti-Airbus (and usually praising Boeing); very little is going in the opposite direction. That's fine when the author is someone who has considerable Airbus flight experience, like
Conf_iture.
The ideal, however, would be to hear from pilots who are literate, dispassionate and technically perceptive, who have at least several years' flying experience of both FBW philosophies. You seem a little reticent to reveal your own, but do you perhaps fit those criteria?
It may be that some A320 pilots posting here have found themselves on type against their inclination, as a stepping stone to something else - perhaps a bigger Boeing. The A320 has been so successful that it has become the ubiquitous, boring, short-haul workhorse - like the B737 was in the 1980s and '90s. It's no longer the cutting-edge, exciting challenge that I relished 25 years ago. The A330 has been eclipsed for size and range by the B777, so is somewhat lacking in charisma. The A340 got a suitable engine too late in its development because, in the 1980s, Rolls Royce abandoned plans to supply a more powerful engine than the CFM-56. A380 jobs are still at a premium. Are their criticisms influenced in any way by disenchantment, I wonder?
I regard myself as a Francophile, so it gives me no pleasure to point out that my former opposite numbers in SNPL bring a lot of baggage to any discussion on Airbus FBW. By the 1980s, BALPA had a more pragmatic approach to new technology. For instance, we did not demand a third crew member in the A310 cockpit. My copilot on the A320 course was the chairman of the BALPA new-aircraft study group, of which I was a member (as mentioned above). The fact that we were so critical of some of the concepts was extra motivation for doing the conversion; to see for ourselves. Our attitude was sceptical, but positive. If we had discovered anything dangerously unacceptable, we would have been reporting it to the aviation world. We found no such thing, although my friend did manage to persuade Bernard Ziegler to modify the speed index on the ASI during an Airbus/IFALPA meeting the following year. Two fatal accidents later brought AFS ergonomic weaknesses to light. Admittedly, although we were aware of the features concerned, we had failed to predict that they might contribute to an accident, and I don't think SNPL did.
I was an A320 skipper at the time of the Habsheim accident that first summer, the captain of which had overlapped us in Airbus Flight Training. Having looked at the video, formed an understanding of the cause, and listened to the hysteria from the media (and even doom merchants in our own airline), we just had to keep on flying passengers as normal - no thanks to SNPL. When I say that some of SNPL's demands are rhetorical, I mean that we lost the battle for those in the 1980s. I say again, the overall package is good; warts notwithstanding.
737Jock,
There's no doubt that the B777 is an excellent airplane. But, until a few months ago, it was the only Boeing in service with FBW. Also, it is a long-haul type, each A/C performing far fewer flight cycles per year than an A320.
** The last Boeing I flew was the 707. Its only powered flight control was the single rudder, protected by a crude Q-feel unit, and incorporating - on later models - the luxury of a series yaw damper. The ubiquitous FD108 flight director was excellent for its 1970s era. There was a single AP, with a height (altitude) lock. On one occasion, after it failed at top-of-climb out of Caracas, the captain and I took 20-minute turns to hand-fly the big beast home to Gatwick, finishing the cruise at FL410.