at my company (737NG's) we have had to do manual loadsheets anytime there was 1000kg difference with planned - even 500kg for a 6 month period. Now - after a tailstrike incident - we have to do them every sector and only *after* boarding is completed and the purser lets us know the exact pax distribution! So then the pressure is on as the ground handler is waiting ( sometimes impatiently ;) ) Hopefully all will be solved when the ompany pays for an automated version - promised within a couple months!

Being an old dinosaur as far as technology is concerned, I view these modern electric jets as technology for its own sake. You've got to have a degree of manual backup or you're stuffed. I prefer something akin to the 1-11 or 737-200. A modern jet has built in obsolescence in that it can suffer the same problems as an old jet PLUS the added complications of too many computers etc which can also go wrong and have more to do with economy than safety. And of course, I do a manual loadsheet every flight no problem. I agree with improvements to things eg more power and less noise etc but quantum leaps in technology merely because we can, have to be thought about carefully.

Just saw the last post refered to on the front page. Funny thing was that it got truncated to:

snooze_ya_lose,

Say, were you "banned" from this thread for a while after your posting has appeared above???

I was.

Mentaleena

snooze
You should really think twice before making posts like that. It is not a flair reflection on either 411A or our American cousins.

411A was dismissive/unsympathetic but you must appreciate there was a time when as a pilot you sometimes had to negotiate the price of a load of fuel (and carry a pocket full of cash to buy it) and when you would have to fly for 10 hours manually because the autopilot wasn't working etc etc

Luxury!! We had to use the same load sheet all day long - with the sectors in different colours, just to save paper.

Apologies to The Fringe.

Tell you a true tale though. BAC 1-11 out of LHR. Sunny day, New skipper in the left, me in the right. Both of us were on our first unsupervised flight. Trim was done on a swizzle wheel with chinograph. Skipper nervous. SOPs not unlike today, but he got his knickers in a twist and put hand on power / tiller, then both on controls, then one on tiller… etc. etc. until at Vr, he had one hand on tiller and one on power levers. The, then new, 1-11 rotated itself and settled exactly at V2 + 8. Why all this new technology with that sort of accuracy achieved with a couple of discs of plastic?

>>He can't help being loud, arrogant and insulting- he is, after all, an american... <<

The chronic PPRuNe Yank bashing thread, ho hum...

Mentaleena

Yes, I had my hand slapped as well. Something about not having a go at fellow PPRuNers. Seems somewhat OTT, but there you go. Don't get me started on that one.... :ok:

Anyway...

twistedenginestarter

If you must quote me, do it properly. You will note that my post had a :} on the end of it. This is the standard internet way of saying (in this case) "I am just winding you up", which I would have thought you (and the moderators here) would have understood. I'm sure 411A understood it- didn't you, my fine colonial chum...??? Probably why he didn't get all angry and respond in kind. It seems others had a sense-of-humour failure.

I do appreciate it, mainly because I have done it (and for a long time too). If you look at my other posts on the thread, you will (hopefully) see that I broadly agree with 411A. All in a days work.

Monty Python Sketch
 

Anyone else reminded of a famous Monty Python sketch with everyone attempting to outdo each other withe their worst days. The only thing certain about this industry is the uncertainty!

Lisbet
as for manual loadsheets after a tailscrape, sounds like a manual slap across the back of the head for the guilty pilots would help.all tail scrapes in our company have been f/o who know only jets.
this sort of thing is bound to happen when people reach the cockpit of a big jet with their initial training being the only real flying they,ve done. sometmes there is no substitute for a bit of hand eye arm feel pull harder or softer as appropiare,type technology.
A beech baron with six fat yank touristd and safari gear has a tailscrape before you start the. engines. I remember etc etc etc.

yours chippily .

ps remind me to not fly ryanair in the not to distant future for the same reasons.

Now,if he had been in a BAC 1-11 in 1999 he might have had a few things to worry about......
But come to think of it I won't go any further. Real pilots know what I mean.:) :)