Hi
woodja51,
I can't be of much more use in this discussion, because the last time I was in an Airbus FBW cockpit was the end of 2001! Prior to that, I was a line capt and line checker for 14 years, but only on the A320/A319. So even my A320 FCOM and Training manual are way out of date. I think we used to use half down-elevator, judged by placing the white cross half way down, until 80 kts (as per my
post #14, above). Can't remember if we ever modified our policy to use extra for strong crosswind or downwind, but obviously see the argument; particularly on a wet runway, where nosewheel adhesion is important while the rudder-fine steering is available. Even at zero IAS, the down elevator is of some effect for take-off on the A320, due to the slipstream effect.
Quote:
"Half stick is where the stick spring pressure increases or half a cross down by my reckoning."
Which is it? Half stick or half a cross? Half stick puts the whole cross well below the black box, IIRC.
Quote (my highlighting):
"Oh and the small left / right input should be eased out too and allow roll normal to control the drift effect as the rotate proceeds from what I was lead to believe.... Seems to work to me in 6000 hours in the LHS on it."
Yes. One of the commonest handling mistakes I saw - often from the P3 seat on line-checks - was the upwind wing rising during rotation. The theory in the early days on the A320 was that Roll Normal would prevent that happening, but it quickly became apparent to me that this was not the case. The wing would rise immediately rotation was started, before main L/G lift-off (as you would expect). However, many of our trainers clung on to their assumption in the face of all the evidence...
