A318 British Airways
 

Hey guys!

I hope that's the correct forum for questions and maybe you can help me ;).

Which pilots fly the British Airways A318 to JFK (resp. back to LCY)?
Is every BA-pilot with TR for the A320 family able to fly this route or are there only a chosen few with a special qualification?

Always happy landings ;).

Well, for starters, pilots on MNPS flights need specific training and a detailed briefing, least they muck up the works for everyone else....which has been known to happen, occasionally.:eek:

I believe that they take a course and get an informal rating based on the fact that the LCY ILS has a 5.5 degree glideslope or something equally unusual. :ok:

They are a subset of the A320 LHR crews trained up as necessary for the task, both in terms of the A318 LCY operational differences and the nuances of Atlantic (and American!) operations.

Thank you ;)!

Can I ask a follow-up to the original question? It's about LCY airport.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that the glideslope is steeper at London City than at other major airports.

My question is: does the aircraft's autopilot adjust to the steeper ILS gradient automatically? Or do you have to "tell" the autopilot by making a manual adjustment that the approach is steeper than normal?

Nick

There is a 'steep approach' push button on the overhead panel which tunes the autopilot/autothrust gains and arms the spoilers for the approach.

I thought the steep app button raises a couple of spoiler panels to assist down the glide??

There is a steep approach button which allows the aircrafts spoilers to be extended as it goes down the 5.5 degree glide path (contrary to a standard 3 degree ILS approach). I'm sure it also changes a few other systems as well but I can't recall them off the top of my head.

The A318 crews are LHR-based A320-fleet type rated with some training to handle the steep approach at LCY as well as Atlantic Ops and American differences which the general A320 fleet will not experience on a regular basis in scheduled operations.

The A318 operation is very senior however so only the most senior crews get to join the A318 'club'.