Capetonian; yes but it's not just AF is it? Colgan, whoever the finless A310 belonged to, and the carrier that recently crashed the 777 at SFO were not AF. This is a general problem - not enough time is spent training and practicing this. On the ATPL course, we did recovery from unusual attitudes* In my case; in a PA28. I have never done that in an Airbus SIM. (I've never flown Boeing).
pontifex; Yes, I couldn't agree more - A vs B is very tiresome. They both design and produce fantastic machines of the highest quality. (Unfortunately, they are nowadays operated by pilots with very variable ability and training).
*One is told to close one's eyes and take hands and feet off the controls. The instructor then puts the aircraft into an unusual attitude, for example, 30 degree bank, nose high - approaching a stall, and then one is told to "open your eyes: you have control". You have to instantly assimilate the situation and attitude and quickly return the aircraft to straight and level flight with the appropriate power, configuration and attitude using just your instruments. A very good exercise.
Last edited by Uplinker; 10th Oct 2013 at 09:34.