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MD80 Flying Impressions

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MD80 Flying Impressions

Old 11th Jul 2010, 07:40
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MD80 Flying Impressions

Hi Guys,

It's my first post so be gentle! I have just accepted a job that will have me flying MD80's and I am looking to get feedback from some veteran MD80 pilots on their impressions flying the aircraft. I have been flying CRJ-100/200 for the past 4 and a half years and I cannot say I have enjoyed hand flying this aircraft at all. I guess I'm wondering if the MD80, also being a T-tail, is just as twitchy/unforgiving or awful to hand fly? Also wondering what I can expect for noise levels in the flight deck, I imagine it's quieter than the CRJ?? The outfit I will be flying for flies a mix of analog and EFIS aircraft, either upgraded with a Marconi FMS/GPS or the factory installed FMS (Smiths?). So any thoughts you may have on the difficulty switching between the lot on a typical flying day would be appreciated, I've only flown fleets of identically configured aircraft thus far!

Thank you for your time and regards,
Matt
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Old 11th Jul 2010, 08:38
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Hi Matt,

Congrats! The MD80 is very quiet in the flightdeck. Headsets is mandatory nowadays, but when I started flying this plane we didn't use them and it worked fine. During engine start you will have to open your sliding window to hear it actually starting! Noise level when airborne and normal speed regimes is so low you can speak to your colleague in a normal tone.

Hand flying - keep it properly trimmed and it is behaving nice.
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Old 11th Jul 2010, 10:41
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i loved flying the aircraft, miss it quite a bit now that i fly the a320.
excellent hand flying, thrust response is slow on the lower end as can be expected but you'll get used to anticipate.
and quite a few limitations to memorize.
very quiet.
enjoy!
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Old 11th Jul 2010, 13:54
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The OneTime guys in RSA say it's a real pilot's aircraft.
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Old 12th Jul 2010, 14:38
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Thanks for the input guys. I'm really looking forwards to the transition! Anything I should know about performance ahead of time? It seems there is a mix of JT8D-217A and -219 engines installed on the fleet. Can I expect a lot of bleeds off takeoff's like the CRJ? What about Improved Climb?

Thanks again,

Matt
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Old 12th Jul 2010, 16:02
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and it was the nicest jet I have ever flown.
Did you fly B 727?
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Old 13th Jul 2010, 00:03
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The thing to remember about the Mad Dog is it is the culmination of the fine art of the "trailing edge of technology." It traces its ancestry back to the DC-9. The DC-9 shares its technological lineage to the wheel, the inclined plane and the screw.

DC stands for Direct Cable. When you grab a hold of something there is a cable and pulley thing a ma jig on the other end of it and that does something.

It works good and lasts a long time. It is quiet, it is very straight forward in its design and it is a great airplane. It is not a friendly airplane to land well land it takes some technique. As an old PSA (the original PSA smiley bird West coast America Airline) pilot instructor said during our ground-school " If you guys figure out how to get consistently good landings" call us and let us know.

You can use lots of up trim like the autopilot, you can fly it on sort of nose lower, there are many ways. It takes work and you will have your share of aircraft carrier style "three wire" arrivals.

For a sophisticated airplane the wing and tail anti-ice plumbing system is a bit much... You have to mess with cross feed valves and stuff like that but it works fine.

You will enjoy this airplane. It is a good honest airplane and it hand flies well once you get the hang of it.

Look up "bitchin betty" on youtube. There actually is a person doing the talking and recorded on the audio for the MD-80 warnings.

good luck.... I just finished 4 days in a brand new A321... I still miss the 80.
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Old 14th Jul 2010, 13:57
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4500 hours in the right seat... The 80 flies with "control tabs"... i.e. you move the wheel left, the control tab on the aileron actually moves down which moves the whole aileron up. Same with the elevators. So at slow speeds it gets kind of sloppy.

If you have to remember ANYTHING, remember this: During approach, if you have more than 8 units of ANU (airplane nose up) trim - usually at heavier weights - KEEP THE POWER IN WHILE FLARING!! Reason being, the stab is trimmed so far nose up (stab leading edge down) that the elevator tabs are somewhat blanketed by the extreme angle of the stab... so if you get a sinker and pull back, nothing happens! Power saves the day.

Another thing, just like the 727.. many times, if you get a sinker the last 20 feet in landing, instead of pulling back, releasing the control pressure and even nudging the yoke slightly FORWARD actually raises the main gear (so far behind the center of lift) and cushions the landing quite nicely. Feels weird but once you get used to it, it gets better.

Folks have said that flying the MD80 feels like balancing a dump truck perched on top of a bowling ball. The control forces are heavier than most Boeings (due to the tabs concept). I agree. BUt after flying it for so long, one develops a certain finesse in flying it and managing the quirky autopilot modes, learning to anticipate it and at that point, it becomes a pleasure to hand fly. And it's true hand flying (direct cables!)

Have fun. 7 years/4500 hours and never any surprises.
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Old 16th Jul 2010, 04:19
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Your impressions of it's handling will be coloured by what you have flown before. You might like it since it sounds like you have mostly flown smaller, relatively unstable Aircraft.


Coming off the B727 I found it to be a major dissapointment, relatively unresponsive and heavy in roll while being overly sensitive in Pitch.


You will need to trim all the time, with that long fuselage and relatively tiny horizontal tail you don't really have the pitch authority or stability that an Aircraft of this size should have.


There is a long delay in spool up on the engines, the longest I have ever seen on any, reasonably modern jet and it can be tricky to keep the engines spooled on approach at light weights.


The Airconditioning is very weak and ineffective in hot temperatures and it leaks, yes leaks in the rain, or, worse when you are being deiced. A lap full of glycol is not pleasant as I found out the hard way !



I could go on but it's probably best you just find out for yourself.
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Old 16th Jul 2010, 04:54
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In time you will love the old girl.................

I had about a dozen years in the MD80, 4 in the right and 8 in the left seat.

The yoke is connected to trim tabs on the ailerons and elevators, not the aileron or elevator itself (except deep stall pusher recovery). On the ground during your preflight if you deflect one aileron up, the opposite aileron will deflect down as they are tied together. However the yoke in the cockpit will not move. Because you are moving trim tabs, not the flight control surfaces themselves the airplane will feel sluggish and heavy at approach speeds.

Because the airplane has so many cables connecting the various flight control surfaces they all age, stretch and wear at different rates. Consequently you could have two MD80s sitting next to each other on the line, built within months of each other with similar time on the airframes and they will “feel” different to fly.

The only powered control surface is the rudder. A total loss of hydraulics on this airplane is not that big of a deal-flight controls are all manually operated through cables, and the rudder has a manual override. I thought the “mechanical interconnection” between the two independent hydraulic systems was brilliant (funny I can’t remember the proper name of this system anymore).

Solid airframe flies well! The MD80 is old technology and cannot compete with modern engines and better designed wings-this jet goes back decades. The auto-throttles work well, but the engines do not spool up quickly or evenly. Be aware of that on both takeoff and landing using reverse thrust-they spool up differently and are not even.

Synchronizing the engines will prove to be a challenge, as will getting a great landing. Anybody who tells you they have the landings all figured out and always roll the jet on I would be suspicious of. The wheels are far behind you, the T tail comes down into ground effect……..there is a lot going on.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the MD80. I miss the old girl and am grateful for my dozen years on the jet. In time you will develop a “feel” for the jet, when you do then you are home. Have fun!!
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Old 16th Jul 2010, 14:57
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I don't remember too many pack-off take offs, even in places like DEN. The -219's have gobs of power. Those engines mostly on the 88's if I recall.

Older birds without the upgraded APU's cannot run both packs on the ground with APU only, if I recall.

Lots of turning, pushing and dialing on the flight guidance control panel, but the system does work pretty well.

Auto Throttle technology is old, and NOT designed by a pilot, so don't expect it to be super smooth in some regimes.

EFIS birds are a very basic EFIS and is a 4-tube system. Even the '88's. You have an EFIS ADI and an EFIS HSI/Nav display. Radar is displayed on the HSI/NAV

Simple systems. You'll learn it quick
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Old 17th Jul 2010, 16:27
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Thanks a ton for the feedback guys! I'm really looking forward to making the switch. I got a class date towards the end of August now and it can't come soon enough!

Stilton, are you sure the leaking isn't a result of your company neglecting maintenance on window seals or similar? If fluid is leaking in, surely you've got a pressurization leak going on as well!?

Thanks again,
Matt.
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Old 17th Jul 2010, 19:38
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Matt,

No seal/pressurization problem - ALL DC-9/MD80s leak (on the ground, that is, not in flight obviously...) it's just a crappy side/eyebrow window design. Just one of many dues-paying glorious moments flying it!
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Old 19th May 2013, 14:24
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what's that sound?

Can anyone tell me what that weird sound is that appears in this video
at 0:03 and lasts until 0:07, and in this other video
from 1:25 until 1:28?

I mean that continuing beep that lasts for several seconds while steadily increasing in pitch until it suddenly stops. Since it typically appears just before touchdown, I always thought it had something to do with the height of the plane. But in the first video it appears very far from touchdown, so that can't be the case (unless it's a malfunction). Does it have to do something with the plane's speed?
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Old 19th May 2013, 14:37
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Watch captain Kent Wien talk about what he loves on the MD80.

Cockpit Chronicles: Why I've fallen for the MD-80 - YouTube
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Old 19th May 2013, 18:27
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Wierd Sound

Hi A.U.
Can anyone tell me what that weird sound is that appears in this video
..."weird" as if somebody broke the wind ?
Well no..
and it is not a malfunction and it has nothing to do with the speed.

The sound starts at the height selected by a bug on RA
 
Old 20th May 2013, 01:36
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If you're doing short runways (MDW,LGA,DCA,SNA , etc) you'll get pretty sharp on performance tradeoffs. Of the current generation of airliners it probably has the worst runway performance.

It should be called 'the little wing that tried'. Certified at FL370. I doubt you'll see much above FL330 or FL340.

Cables moving tabs which move the control surface. In other words, slow, and somewhat sloppy/mushy response. You get used to it.

Noise? Really quiet. Push the power up and it's like a video game, dials move but you don't hear anything. People in back do, like N1 beat, but the cockpit is very quiet. The loudest thing was the FMC(?) cooling fans on the ground. At rotation they stop and it would make you jump "uh, oh, we just lost something."
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