A320 Autothrust
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A320 Autothrust
Hi....I am a fresh Australian and Indian CPL holder with 213 hrs of experience.
I look forward to flying an A320 someday...The thought of the auto throttle fascinates me...I do not possess much knowledge about it though...
I had some doubts, out of curiosity, regarding the plane though...
Do the computers int he aircraft calculate the V speeds(V1, V2, etc) for every flight according to the ambient weather and loading conditions and display them on the PFD or they remain fixed values..??
When we change the the attitude of the aircraft, does the auto throttle adjust the power of the engines to maintain the airspeed/mach no. ?
Does the throttle lever move or does it stay fixed when auto thrust is in operation??
During landing, do we set the Auto throttle to the approach speeds or do we manually control the throttle?
Flying the aircraft manually at high speeds will cause discomfort to the passengers behind...at what time do we first enable the autopilot???
These questions may seem really silly to those for whom flying this plane is part of their everyday life, but i'd really appreciate it if somebody answer them for me. thank you,
cheers,
Sahil
I look forward to flying an A320 someday...The thought of the auto throttle fascinates me...I do not possess much knowledge about it though...
I had some doubts, out of curiosity, regarding the plane though...
Do the computers int he aircraft calculate the V speeds(V1, V2, etc) for every flight according to the ambient weather and loading conditions and display them on the PFD or they remain fixed values..??
When we change the the attitude of the aircraft, does the auto throttle adjust the power of the engines to maintain the airspeed/mach no. ?
Does the throttle lever move or does it stay fixed when auto thrust is in operation??
During landing, do we set the Auto throttle to the approach speeds or do we manually control the throttle?
Flying the aircraft manually at high speeds will cause discomfort to the passengers behind...at what time do we first enable the autopilot???
These questions may seem really silly to those for whom flying this plane is part of their everyday life, but i'd really appreciate it if somebody answer them for me. thank you,
cheers,
Sahil
You have a lot of Q's there may I suggest purchasing a book that is great reading & all about the A320 especially for those that are not too familiar with the Airbus way of doing things. Book is the "unofficial Airbus A320 Simulator & CheckRide Procedures manual" by Mike Ray, A UAL: Capt. This book will answer all yr questions & some!
fascinating reading for the laymen as well. Do a Google search with the Capt's name with perhaps the words UTP (University of Temecula Press)
Cost is around $US90 & worth every cent
Wmk2:-)
fascinating reading for the laymen as well. Do a Google search with the Capt's name with perhaps the words UTP (University of Temecula Press)
Cost is around $US90 & worth every cent
Wmk2:-)
The Bumblebee
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Sahil.
You can go to http://airbusdriver.net and download technical notes from there. You can also try www.smartcockpit.com and download FCOM from there, specially FCOM I and read the chapter on Autoflight.
To answer your questions:
1) NO, you have to calculate it either from the hard copy of RTOW charts for the particular runway or from a software inserting the ambient conditions or worst case scenerio from the FCOM 2.
2) Yes.
3) Thrust lever is fixed in CL (climb) gate and Auto thrust can change power anywhere between idle to climb (assuming no single engine operation, during single engine it is kept in MCT and thrust can vary between idle and MCT).
4) No, autothrust manages the thrust to maintain speed.
5) Flying the aircraft manually does not cause discomfort to passengers, it all depends on your flight techniques and smoothness, the earliest the airbus pilot can engage autopilot is at minimum 100' RA and min 5 sec after liftoff (both conditions must be met).
You can go to http://airbusdriver.net and download technical notes from there. You can also try www.smartcockpit.com and download FCOM from there, specially FCOM I and read the chapter on Autoflight.
To answer your questions:
1) NO, you have to calculate it either from the hard copy of RTOW charts for the particular runway or from a software inserting the ambient conditions or worst case scenerio from the FCOM 2.
2) Yes.
3) Thrust lever is fixed in CL (climb) gate and Auto thrust can change power anywhere between idle to climb (assuming no single engine operation, during single engine it is kept in MCT and thrust can vary between idle and MCT).
4) No, autothrust manages the thrust to maintain speed.
5) Flying the aircraft manually does not cause discomfort to passengers, it all depends on your flight techniques and smoothness, the earliest the airbus pilot can engage autopilot is at minimum 100' RA and min 5 sec after liftoff (both conditions must be met).
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Thank you.That clears many of my doubts.The thought of transition from such small piston aircraft to giant jets seems weird..I really appreciate both your replies. The air bus seems really fascinating. I recently watched a video where the aircraft would itself roll out of steep banks and recover from stalls..
I will definitely purchase "The unofficial Airbus A320 Simulator & CheckRide Procedures manual" but from a book store. It is also recommended in "www.airbusdriver.net"..I hope to undergo Type Rating on it soon..
Both the websites are really informative..Thank you so much..
Cheers,
Sahil
I will definitely purchase "The unofficial Airbus A320 Simulator & CheckRide Procedures manual" but from a book store. It is also recommended in "www.airbusdriver.net"..I hope to undergo Type Rating on it soon..
Both the websites are really informative..Thank you so much..
Cheers,
Sahil
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Do the computers in the aircraft calculate the V speeds(V1, V2, etc) for every flight according to the ambient weather and loading conditions and display them on the PFD or they remain fixed values..??
FMGC (Flight Management and Guidance Computer) computes takeoff, approach and go-around speeds based on the actual "operational environment" (weather, weight, conf etc.) as well as Flight Augmentation Computers (FAC's) do in calculating minimum and maximum speeds, maneuvering speeds etc. Nowdays a TOS (Takeoff Securing Functions) is being implemented on new Airbus a/c, whose purpose is to automatically check consistency of several take-off parameters, inserted into the FMGC.
When we change the the attitude of the aircraft, does the auto throttle adjust the power of the engines to maintain the airspeed/mach no. ?
Does the throttle lever move or does it stay fixed when auto thrust is in operation??
During landing, do we set the Auto throttle to the approach speeds or do we manually control the throttle?
Flying the aircraft manually at high speeds will cause discomfort to the passengers behind...at what time do we first enable the autopilot???
Hope this helps,
fredgrav
Last edited by fredgrav; 26th Apr 2010 at 07:30.
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Thank you Sir,
I really appreciate your taking out valuable time for this..
So does that mean that the V1, V2 speeds, etc ,displayed on the ASI in the PFD will be different every time we take off..?
Also, out of interest, is it easy to maintain DME arcs manually at jet speeds during instrument approaches..??
And since you are carrying passengers back there, you hardly get more than one chance on landing the plane.If you are asked to conduct a visual approach during the day without the ILS, i believe that your judgement cannot be less than perfect. True?
I really appreciate your taking out valuable time for this..
So does that mean that the V1, V2 speeds, etc ,displayed on the ASI in the PFD will be different every time we take off..?
Also, out of interest, is it easy to maintain DME arcs manually at jet speeds during instrument approaches..??
And since you are carrying passengers back there, you hardly get more than one chance on landing the plane.If you are asked to conduct a visual approach during the day without the ILS, i believe that your judgement cannot be less than perfect. True?
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So does that mean that the V1, V2 speeds, etc ,displayed on the ASI in the PFD will be different every time we take off..?
is it easy to maintain DME arcs manually at jet speeds during instrument approaches..??
If you are asked to conduct a visual approach during the day without the ILS, i believe that your judgement cannot be less than perfect. True?
Hope that helps,
fredgrav
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Actually, it does help....Thank you so much..
That actually clears most of my doubts..Ill let you know in case I have more doubts...Thanks again
cheers
Sahil
That actually clears most of my doubts..Ill let you know in case I have more doubts...Thanks again
cheers
Sahil