Airbus; Sunglasses and Ignition switches

[Ivan Urge]

Having recently converted to the small 'bus I find it near impossible to wear sunglasses in the cockpit due to the lack of brilliance coming from the screens. In fact polarized lenses are useless. Has anyone found a particular colour of tinting in their sunglasses is better than others? The screen's brightness is nowhere near as good as the 737s.

I also notice that Airbus says nothing about turning on ignition in flight in moderate or heavy rain. By implication, if it is not stated it is not required, yet some people do it. The 737NG FADEC has a feature that senses a rundown and launches into a relight which includes putting on the ignition. The FADEC in the 'bus is better in many respects and I expected it may do the same but it is not written anywhere.

On the 737NG it was a requirement even in moderate rain to put the ignition on, but I suspect this was to keep commonality with the other 737 types. For that matter in the 737 it categorically states to put on ignition in severe turbulence yet it does no such such thing for the 'bus (much to the chagrin of my- ex 737- instructor who insisted upon it in light turbulence)

Any ideas and clued up types on the FADEC in the little (v2500) 'bus?

One more thing. Are you doing your flight control checks before you taxi or is this something the airline I work for dreamed up?

[NigelOnDraft]

Yes - screens dimmer on Bus than Boeing, so as you say, sunglasses make screens not so readable...

I also notice that Airbus says nothing about turning on ignition in flight in moderate or heavy rain Our SOPs say to use in Mod / Heavy Rain. NB with EAI it comes on anyway, and also with Flaps (approach only?)

The 737NG FADEC has a feature that senses a rundown and launches into a relight which includes putting on the ignition I am sure the v2500 does this. However, might be best to try and stop the thing running down in the first place!

One more thing. Are you doing your flight control checks before you taxi or is this something the airline I work for dreamed up? Do them taxying out. However, NB a lot of people still wang the cotnrols about, and don't really check them properly. There have been 2 near / very near nasties which would have been prevented by these checks being done properly - Excalibur (BA forgot to connect something) and LH @ FRA (LH managed to wire one stick in reverse!). So if someone has decided to get these done stationary, they might have a good reason.

[Trash Hauler]

Our SOPs state that polarised sunglasses are not to be used due to incompatability with the displays.

[DBate]

I can't say if the screens on the bus are really darker than the ones on the 737, but often maintanence adjusts the brightness of the screens to a very low one to enhance lifetime of the displays.

We usually call the mechanics or leave a note in the TLB to get that fixed.

Concerning the flight control check - we do it now before taxiing, including the Takeoff items, the appropriate callout by CM1 being 'After Start Items - Flaps 1'.

So long,
DBate

[longarm]

I find tan/brown tinted glasses works very well. As for polaroid, totally useless, never mind looking at the screens, you can't even see out of the windows!

[alf5071h]

In my military days, we were taught never to use Polaroid sunglasses as they may ‘react’ with the optical qualities of windshields to seriously restrict vision. The military provided crews with high quality normal sunglasses, a pair of which I still have.

Have you considered that Polaroid or any other form of modern sunglasses may interact with the anti-glare coating on the CRTs? Each display manufacturer uses different technology, as do I suspect sunglass and windshield manufacturers. During my time in airframe manufacturing great care was taken to ensure that there was consistency of quality between the displays in the flight deck, particularly between main and st-by instruments, but of course that only applied to the then current standard of sunglass.

[idg]

Agree with longarm on this one. Use Serengettis brown gradient tint. Maximum up top for the windows and gradually less lower down which is good for the screens. Seems to work very well on the 'bus :ok:

[Spearing Britney]

Ivan, are you sure your QRH severe turbulence drill doesnt say something like...

select speed
seat belts sign...on
eng mode...IGN
A/THR...disconnect

[POL.777]

The reason why polarized lenses are useless in a glasscockpit is that the instruments (and windows for that case) are coated with a polarized layer. Looking through two layers of polarized glass creates a visual illusion of glare, dim or blur, therefore you should go for a pair of sunglasses without polaroid filter.

Best regards

POL

[stator vane]

i can promise you that you will not be able to read the frequencies on the radio selector unless you turn your head to some painful position.

[mcdude]

Hi "dudes"

The FCOM only has requirement for IGN for severe turbulence on takeoff or landing. It is not a requirement in cruise because igniters should come on automatically in the event of flame-out.

In FCOM SOP;

BEFORE TAKEOFF - Select IGN START, if heavy rain or severe turbulence is expected after takeoff.

and

INITIAL APPROACH - Select IGN if the runway is covered with standing water, or if heavy rain or severe turbulence is expected during approach or go-around.

However no mention of IGN Selector in FCOM Supplementary Techniques;

GENERAL

Whenever possible, avoid areas with known or forecasted severe turbulence. If turbulence is unavoidable, aim to keep the speed in the region of the target speed given in this section, so as to provide the best protection against the effect of gust on the structural limits, whilst maintaining an adequate margin above VLS.

Consider requesting a lower flight level to increase margin to buffet onset.

Sufficient buffet margin exists at optimum altitude.

SIGNS

Before entering an area of known turbulence, the flight crew and the cabin crew must secure all loose equipment and turn on the "SEAT BELTS" and "NO SMOKING" signs.

AUTOPILOT/AUTOTHRUST

Keep the autopilot ON.

When thrust changes become excessive : Disconnect Autothrust.

For approach : Use A/THR for managed speed.

THRUST AND AIRSPEED

Set the thrust to give the recommended speed (see table on next page). This thrust setting attempts to obtain, in stabilized conditions, the speed for turbulence penetration given in the graph below.

Only change thrust in case of an extreme variation in airspeed, and do not chase your Mach or airspeed.

A transient increase is preferable to a loss of speed, that decreases buffet margins and is difficult to recover.
ALTITUDE

If the crew flies manually the aircraft :

Expect large variations in altitude, but do not chase altitude.

Maintain attitude and allow altitude to vary.


SPEEDBRAKES

Whenever speedbrakes are applied, keep a hand on the speedbrake handle, except while performing some other specific cockpit function (changing power, resetting altimeter, etc.).

LANDING

Configuration FULL or 3 can be used. However configuration 3 provides more energy and less drag.

cheeers mcdude