Autothrottle during approach on A320 family?

[reverserunlocked]

Is it true that the A320 family can be a handful on approach when manipulating the throttles manually, as the aircraft is designed to be handled with the autothrottle left in?

Any thoughts? What's the Airbus Industrie SOP?

[FlyMD]

What's a handful?

During a normal approach, the A320 is one of the easiest airplanes I know for flying manual thrust. The version I flew had Pratt engines, which responded beautifully and fast, and the little N1 targets are a very nice help flying MT... In addition, the advantage of Airbus is that you keep all your low speed/low energy protections even with A-thrust off...

Most gripes with the A320 flight control and thrust system originate from it's characteristics in gusty conditions, or with high crosswind...
With moderate turbulence on final approach, the autothrottles work a lot when engaged, and it's not easy to be aware what is happening with the thrust, because the thrust levers do not move. Some people will prefer to fly manual thrust in those conditions, but then, any aircraft flown without a-thrust in gusty conditions can be a "handful"...

I spent 1300 hours on the A319-20-21, and loved every minute of it... Even if my heart still beats for the MD80...

Other comments?

[Maxrev]

I'm with Fly MD, the A320 is a lovely stable aircraft to fly on approach, with or without a/throttle.

I can't personally say I've found it a handful in crosswind conditions, but I do admit that the lack of throttle movement can make you a little jumpy. The advantage of the backdriven throttle system means that you can see what the levers are doing at a glance. When relying on the EPR or N1 gauges (depending on the engine you have fitted) there can be a little lag before you get the full picture.

Ergonomically the Airbus family is excellent, and despite all the automation it really flatters your flying.

Look out on the 321 though, that long fuselage can bite on rotation or the flare if you're heavy handed.

And Fly MD, I only tried a Mad Dog sim, the flight deck is rather chaotic but unlike the 'bus, it certainly brings you closer to the action!

[Rabbit]

With some 6000+ hrs on the A320, most of which is training hours, I have two comments regarding A320 A/T.

The system is very reliable and responsive, if you leave it alone and fly the aircraft smoothly it does an excelent job. In my experience, the only problem experienced manual or auto, is when the pilot concerned was over-controlling and making a real rough ride of it.

As per FCOM 3, it is recommended to use manual thrust in certain failure conditions. And from simulator experience it certainly is noticeably easier in those failure conditions.

All in all I believe the system is excellent and only surpassed in the A330 and A340.

Have a nice day