Little Airbus Sucks!

[vmommo]

1. My feet are cold! (Where are the foot warmers?)
2. The brakes are terrible!
3. The F/A call bell...wow!
4. I can't dim all the lights/annunciators to my liking in the cockpit at night.
5. The FMC is half-ass developed! Tell me why I can not change the descent speed in the McDU while in a descent?
6. The airplane over speeds in a descent, yes in DES. I was told to use selected speed. Are they still working on the A/P?
7. Continuous erroneous ECAM messages. Can anybody tell me which status messages should appear after a normal shutdown at the gate?
8. V speeds, just a little high...?
9. Convoluted emergency procedures!!!
10. Rides terribly in turbulence!
11. The airplane whistles in high speed descents! Pitot tubes, windshield frames or what?
12. The tail or something else vibrates at high q. I was told not to worry about it. But, these airplanes are brand new..
13. The airplane climbs like a dog when heavy!!
14. The radio tuning volumes are unbalanced.
Come on guys, what's so great about the Airbus, except for the crew seats and that the airlines get these airplanes cheap?
Looks like the sayings "there ain't no free lunch" and "you get what you pay for" still hold true.

[m&v]

All of the above is true,but modifiable.Descent is the only'mode'change-thats why you 'modify'it prior to descent.
When asked the same qestion,"how do I like Airbus,after the 727"? I could only reason that any aircraft that could Auto-land me with one engine out in WOXOF conditions isn't all bad"

[320DRIVER]

>2. The brakes are terrible!

If you are not satisfied with the brakes, you should report it to your techs and have it fixed if it is a safety concern.


>3. The F/A call bell...wow!

Didn't get this point? Please explain.


>5. The FMC is half-ass developed!

What are you compating it too?


>6. The airplane over speeds in a descent, yes in DES. I was told to use selected speed. Are they still working on the A/P?

Managed descent works fine as long as you take the effort enter the correct descent winds.


>7. Continuous erroneous ECAM messages. Can anybody tell me which status messages should appear after a normal shutdown at the gate?

Again, This is an issue to take up with your techs. Our A319/20/21 are very reliable in this respect,


>9. Convoluted emergency procedures!!!

Seems fine to me. Maybe your Training Dept. still needs to get accustomed to the Airbus procedures, but you'll get there!


>10. Rides terribly in turbulence!

Have to agree but no big difference from the B737 series.


>11. The airplane whistles in high speed descents! Pitot tubes, windshield frames or what?

Again, I agree.


>12. The tail or something else vibrates at high q. I was told not to worry about it. But, these airplanes are brand new..

Never seen this on our aircraft.


>13. The airplane climbs like a dog when heavy!!

Well, it is trying to climb at M.78... Reducing to M.76 for the final part of the climb would be helpful in many cases.


>14. The radio tuning volumes are unbalanced.

Dunno what you mean here.


Anyways, enjoy flying the 'Bus. :-)

[SLT]

Agree with 320DRIVER on this one. Also -
Foot Warmers - they are an optional extra - moan at your beancounters for not opting for them - and wear 2 pairs of socks!!:P
Have to agree about the lights though - A321 is better than the 320, and the 330 is even better still.

Cheers

[F/O Junior]

Lights in the A330, I think it's a pain. Personally prefer those in the baby buses. I also miss the slot in the window frame to place your charts. (We have not yet a paper free cockpit.)
Agree with vmommo about the Cabin-Cockpit call. It's a bit aggressive.
I think speed is a general issue on the Airbus. A/T get a bit slow when in CRZ mode. I'm aware that it's the idea to keep the "rpm" on a more stable level with the altitude soft mode. It helps during turbulence to enter a higher cruising level in the FMGC in order to get him out of ALT CRZ, makes the A/T more responding again.
The overspeed during descent is even worse on the A330 in "Open -" or "Managed descent". I try to use v/s as long as I'm descending with a mach speed. Once established on the desired IAS, things get way smoother. (i.e. no overreacted pitch down).

[SLT]

Know what you mean about the chart holder - it is a pain. Also miss the little slot in the window frame to keep unused airways charts etc in.
I agree that the 330 lights aren't perfect by a long chalk, but they are streets ahead of the 320.

[maxmobil]

footwarmers -
don't expect miracles, they don't heat the floor panel more than to about 20 degrees celsius

but after 5 years of 320 flying I still don't know why
1) they put in COLD air outlets pointing at Your feet instead of conditioned air and
2) why the sunshades are such a stupid design that You have to be careful not to rotate them counterclockwise - than they get loose

but on total I prefer the Bus to the MD 80 previously flewn by 200 percent

------------------
This Airbus is o.k., but why did it come with a RENAULT key ??

[Frederic]

Vmommo, just out of interest, wich aircraft did you fly before? Remember that every aircraft has faults. But having said that I think pilots should give a lot more feedback to the manufacturers about ergonomic and human factors design issues. Even on the most modern aircraft there is still lots of work to do to make them more comfortable (read healthy) for pilots. I am suffering back problems partly due to bad quality airconditioning and seats on the BAe 146. I hope the A320 is a bit better. I don't fly it yet, but I have flown the sims (320 & 330) and loved the way they flew.

[vmommo]

I used to fly B-757/767.

I realize that a comparison with the AB is not quite fair. The FBW technology is great, but Airbus sure has a few "opportunities" to improve their overall product.

Everything is relative, but I expected a more "complete" product from Airbus after flying the B-757/767.

The B-757/767 technology is relatively old, but one thing is for sure, Boeing has a very simple, reliable and thought through design.

[Frederic]

Vmo, seems like you have an openminded and realistic view about the subject, I like that. I think you're absolutely right. Airbus does things with best intentions and a philosophy of innovation, but although I'm personaly more Airbus minded, their aircraft seem to lack somewhat in quality and simplicity. They do realise that though and from what I know they're trying to clean up their act on the A340-500 and A380. I've noticed that very often the reason why Airbus is designing things in a certain way is not immediately obvious. Give the aircraft and manufacturer a chance. They're less experienced than Boeing and need more time to devellop their product.

[This message has been edited by Frederic (edited 05 April 2001).]

[Stroppalot]

Congratulations to all participants for NOT starting a Boeing v Airbus slanging match! What a refreshing change!

Personally, I'd love to have an informed opinion on either aircraft, but for now I'll just stick to the Piper v Cessna debates !!!

[Frederic]

Piper versus Cessna? You can't have a debate about that, they both suck! Only joking...

[TEMP0+TSRAGR]

Why do Airbus put RT Box 1 in a place where it is impossible for the guy in the RH seat to see all the digits. It is impossible to even see Box 1 with the Capt.'s hands on the throttles ...... this really irritates me !

I agree about overspeeds, you have to whatch the speed in descents like a hawk, especially at high cost index's.
The 319's speed control on the ILS is horrendous +/- 10Kts ..... wouldnt pass an instrument rating flying with those tolerences.

Why do you get fault lights on the IDG buttons when the engines are shut down ... surley the machine knows its on the ground with no engines running ???

Yes, why can't wou change the managed descent speed whilst in a descent - strange philosphy ??

Why only half speed brake with the autopilot engaged ??

Every a/c I have flown has its faults, it does seem Airbus didn't ask the pilots what they wanted before developing the machine.

To be fair it has some very good points, ie. TRK/FPA (brilliant!), ECAM displays, auto start sequence, etc etc ...not all bad !!!



[This message has been edited by TEMP0+TSRAGR (edited 11 April 2001).]

[autoflight]

Unidentified airframe vibration should not be ignored.

I heard of a case of damage in the area where the A320 horizontal stabilizer is actually connected to the airframe. Slight vibration in the climb, over a long period, was the only symptom.

[Checkboard]

There is a passage in Earnest K. Gann's Fate is the Hunter (starting Page 353) about an unexplained airframe vibration reported by the Cabin Crew.

Unable to identify the problem in flight, upon landing the engineer showed him that an elevator hinge bolt was missing. (An incident that resulted in the grounding over the world wide fleet of DC-4s, and probably resulted in the crash of another DC-4 at the same time.)

[javelin]

vmommo - hows Birmingham then ?!