The Embraer 190/195

[Broomstick Flier]

Good evening,

Recently I was invited to work for a local airline flying the E190/E195 duo as a first officer. My previous job was with bizjets, flying a Falcon 900 and more recently a CJ3.

I am still on ground school and the sim is about to begin in a couple of weeks (hopefully) and with this thread I am hoping to get some inside remarks from other fellow aviators flying the eJets, not only the somehow biased opinion of my company mates.

What are your general impressions of it, the operational "pitfalls", any tips or tricks worth to mention (yes, I know, I still have much to learn about it..)

I made a search but not many results...

Cheers
BF

[TOFFAIR]

Its a nice plane to fly, specially if it comes equiped with HUD. Flying bizjets the FMS may appear familiar to you, as it is a generic not compare to Airbus or Boeing. The vertical profile is very handy, just keep in mind it doesnt takes decelaration into account, specially approaching with tailwind try to stay a little below the green until configured on final. Side windows dont have heating or defog, flying in the moist tropics you may even open the window for taxi. Pressurization is a weak point in the construction, try to get an earlier decent or you will pop your ears and your Paxs as the Outflowvalve works harsh. Always keep an eye on the Bleeds, if pressure starts to vary a lot a failure might be imminent, not uncommon on the type, keep procedure for decompressure and emergency decent always in mind, specially if you should get dispached with 1 Pack Off, choose a lower Level, add fuel for a contingency, it do happen! Flaps are electric and therefore quite slow, and sensitive, using them to add drag in order to reduce speed is not a good idea. Low rate is slow rate, if you antecipate it configure early.
Should you fly both 190 and 195, handling is not so different as it is FbW, but I got used to flare earlier on the 195 compared to 190, 195 likes to hard land and 190 to float. If you have speed increments for gust, crosswinds, etc fly the plane to the ground and reduce thrust earlier, else it will float. Seats are not the most confortables for longer flights...
Wx radar often oversees something, specially when it is embedded, we used to call him Steve (after Steve Wonder). It is amazing how short you can stop the bird, even fullhouse, carbon brakes do a great job, together with the deceleration scale on the HUD you will be tempted to disconsider use of autobrake.
All in all ops are easy, only the load of electronic put into it make the EICAS bring up bogus messages quite frequently.

Have fun!

[Broomstick Flier]

Hi Toffair,

Thanks for the insights, the main concern seems to be the bleeds indeed, does the FMS compute descents using angle or rate of descent? How about the electrical system? Any reliability issues?

Best regards,
BF

[Lord Spandex Masher]

The FMS uses a flight path angle but it will indicate the VS required at TOD.

The seats, unless it's an option, have electric motors for vertical adjustment. Make sure your headset lead is not under, near to or around the gubbins under the seat or you'll chop the lead in half when you motor it.

The jumpseat is stowed behind the captains seat and can prevent the DV window from opening fully if it's incorrectly stowed (it's not obvious either way when it is stowed though).

There is a null area on the pedestal lighting adjustment knob. In bright/day light it can look as if your audio panels have lost power. Give the knob a wiggle or turn it up.

Reliability is top notch. I only had one no go in over four years.

Bleeds are occasionally temperamental but reliability has improved greatly and they usually give you a hint before they go pop, like Toffair mentioned.

No drama with electrical reliability.

The loadies hate the holds, low and dark so they appreciate it if you can leave the power on while they're doing their thing.

If the EICAS doesn't declutter airborne then you've either forgotten something silly, something has exceeded a limit or you've pressed the EICAS full button. Best to check carefully because things like the APU box are small and tend to blend in rather well.

The CCD can get a bit jittery sometimes so if you need to scroll up and down it's a good idea to use a finger on each side of the CCD pad, seems to desensitise it a bit.

Enjoy.

[Broomstick Flier]

LSM and olbie,

Thanks for the informative posts, and I will keep this in mind once I start to fly on a regular basis...

Do you have EFB class 1 or 2 on the machines you currently fly?

Cheers

[Broomstick Flier]

I see,

So you have a dedicated laptop to run the EPOP software? The FMS has no performace calculation (V speeds) capability (ou ours at least)...

How does the ice accretion Vref increase affect your operations?

Fly safe,

[Piltdown Man]

I've been flying the Brazilian Bitch for a couple of years now. Overall, I think it's the nastiest aircraft I've ever flown.

Here's why it's nasty:

1. No mode button lights on the Guidance Panel and a 'two elephant" wait for the new mode to appear on the PFD.
2. Six button presses to do a 'Direct.'
3. FMC mode selection and operation: Select mode, find twiddle button, look at PFD to see what you are dialing up.
4. Bullworker® aileron loadings not related to roll rate nor aerodynamic loadings.
5. Dreadfully specified, horribly programmed FMS. Each and every section works differently. It's as if they give the development to YTS employees.
6. Real howlers in the manuals.
7. Fragile construction of holds, doors and interior fittings.
8. Dreadful ride in turbulence.
9. Poor Autobrake programming.
10. No useful performance data in FMS.
11. Random Speed mode when using FMS speeds on approach.
12. Untrustworthy vertical profile in VNAV resulting in high likelihood of overspeed.
13. Horrible jumpseat.
14. Passenger vibration devices have little effect on overall drag.
15. You need ape-like hands to use the AP TCS button.
16. The EFB is another of amateurish piece of software. The world moved to a GUI years ago but not the knobs who put this crock together. I know I could do better.

But to be fair, its good points are:

1. It doesn't use much runway, either taking of or landing. Performance is never like to be restricting.
2. You are not the slowest person in the sky.
3. Passengers like it.
4. No central bar under the seats means more bag stowage area.
5. Best (manual) brakes I've ever used
6. Excellent steering
7. Good engineering synoptic pages so tech. issues can be sorted promptly.
8. Loads of Ooomppff!
9. Ice isn't an issue. Ice speeds add seven to eight knots on approach speeds Flaps 5 only and 10% or so to LDRs, so a non-event.
10. It's very cheap.
11. Toilets people can actually poo in.
12. Towing light (Green/Red light).
13. Rapid APU availability.
14. Good synoptic pages on EICAS.
15. Looks pretty.
16. Good visibility from the cockpit.
17. Brilliant power lever response.
18. There are lots of them flying.
19. External power can light the cabin and holds when you are not present (APU not permitted to run un-attended).
20. It's pretty good with fuel, say 1,800 kgs/hr with 100 pax and bags at 460 kts.
21. The FPV has always told the truth.

To be fair to the aircraft, it is an excellent glider so it's important not to rush and to take your time. Do not be forced into being hot and/or high. If you are unsure always ask for more track miles.

PM

[Broomstick Flier]

Hi PM,

Blimey! That is indeed a huge list of, errr, qualities
Many thanks for taking the time to write the comprehensive list ... mostly welcome! The "nasty" section would be funny if not tragic... In 15 days I will be starting my sim sessions and will keep some of those flaws in mind.

We have dual HGS on ours as a standard feature and hopefully it will help to make the overall experience better...

On a side note, I spoke to a friend, former Embraer engineering/tech rep guy, and he said that some behaviour/flaws/WTF moments, can be explained, according to Embraer lingo, with three basic (and evasive) answers:
1 - It is the system logic
2 - This is this way due to certification requirements
3 - That is a project's characteristic

Go figure

Cheers
BF

[Piltdown Man]

The first few lessons should be a breeze. As for a type rating course, my overall advice would be:

1. Do as little pre-reading as possible. Moving ahead is pointless but obviously make sure you are keeping up with pack. However, if your company adheres to Embraer's operating philosophy, read, learn, sleep with the SOPM. The front pages describe exactly who does what when. Follow it!
2. Don't try and be smart. Take it slow. 210 kts is a sensible speed for most low level "Flaps 0" stooging around, one or two engines.
3. If you can't find the page you are looking for on the FMS, you'll probably find it on the NAV page.
4. If all else fails, go to the RADIO page, dial up the frequencies you require, select the needle and after pressing V/L or PREV, give the CRS knob a tweak.
5. Don't forget, there's no VOR tracking, per se.
6. In QRH terms, try and work out what is "Annunciated" and what is "Non-annunciated".
7. For all N-1, don't move your feet too quickly. Move them just enough to keep control and once everything is safely under control, 'neaten up' the trim/s.
8. Forget about the Overhead Panel. Apart from the position of the Seat Belt sign and External Light switches, there is absolutely no information presented there whatsover. With the exception of the previous items, any switch which is not where it should be will generate an EICAS message.
9. If any messages appear on the EICAS (blue, amber or red) perform the recall item (if required) and then go straight to the appropriate synoptic page for more information, if available.

PM

[Dan B.]

Not much to add to the previous posts... Except for the trick should you be too high: 210 Kts, Flaps 1, half speedbrakes! Very useful with playful ATC

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

First a/c I've had with the 'pigeon'.

Don't look at the attitude bars- fly the pigeon!

Raw Data ILS is dead easy. Just fly the ........

Doesn't do turbulence at all well and some seem to find the 190 hard to land. If you get a greaser it will mostly be luck.

It can be a bitch when it's windy. Commit to memory the button pressing required on receipt of 'Windshear' warnings.

I quite agree about the button pressing frenzy for a simple 'direct to'. Bloody stupid.

This a/c llikes it's pilots to use the autos. frankly, given the flying abilities of many of our F/Os, this is no bad thing.

Trouble is, your flying skills will soon atrophy and then you'll join them.

EFATO. 'You dance. You die'
Don't rotate till she's running straight. Lock your foot while still on the runway and remember my instructors wise words.
'You dance, you die'.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

A Belgian from Flight Safety Paris per chance?

Or do they all sing the same song?!

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

Spandex. If I knew the Belgique for 'yes', I'd type it.

A wise owl.

[RATpin]

IMHO,if you find yourself high and fast in most jets with conventional speedbrakes,(F28/F100 & Bae 146 excepted) lowering the gear is your best friend,The E170/190 is no different in this regard.

[Flap40]

It has the best wipers of any aircraft that I have flown. Just don't use the intermittent setting while flying a flap 5 approach if you want to be able to see the runway.

As others have said, the weather radar is 5h1t. Use the RCT mode to get a hint of what it cannot see.

[Broomstick Flier]

Many thanks for the very informative answers..

"You dance, You die" is a good advice...

Are you guys using green dot for flaps extension or fixed flap schedule speeds? For the time being we are limited on fixed speeds.

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

The wx radar is ****, but...

Put in ACT and reduce the gain to 56%. If stuff still paints, avoid.

Otherwise it paints all wx, even stuff that is truly not worth avoiding.

Reducing the gain (actually reducing receiver sensitivity) helps sort the wheat from the chaff.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Barbies, sounds like he might be the same chap that did my initial stuff up to the LST. Couldn't have asked for a nicer or better instructor. Learnt a lot from him and I wish I could remember his name.

Broomstick, we used a fixed speed schedule. Worked quite well and made the green dot largely irrelevant except as a cross check. That is until you lose the bugged speeds and then green dot plus 10 becomes a safe and sensible retraction schedule.

Can't remember exactly the requirements but the green dot became your initial drift down target speed, not min speed, at higher altitudes, just don't forget to add 10 in icing (I think that was the case) and that was the only time you used an icing additive on the 195. Or is my memory going?!

[Piltdown Man]

Are you guys using green dot for flaps extension or fixed flap schedule speeds? For the time being we are limited on fixed speeds.

We use whatever speeds we want. But what is certain is that 'Green Dot' (or Dot+10 in ice) is the least stressful for the aircraft. As for Hot and High, I have to be the expert! An truly biblical (totally un-economic and uncomfortable) rate of descent can be set up at 205kts, Flaps 2 and Gear down.

And another thing, at altitude 'Green Dot' moves as you change airspeed. It's computed like most other green dots, but on this plane some idiot has also added C/L. So maintaining altitude and reducing speed reduce green dot speed - of course!!??

PM

[Flap40]

In RCT you cannot adjust the gain (unless your radar is different to ours).