Automation Cautionary Tale
900 hours a year, 4 sector days, busy airspace, pilots straight from cessnas into highly automated jets. This is European flying in 2016.
It's no surprise to me that the industry standard is to use the automatics to free up capacity and mask an increasing level of low experience.
Years ago a wise old Captain told me that he had no problem with hand flying provided that it was done following a briefing and advance notice to the PM who will end up doing more work, but suggested that I consider whether the first first or last sectors of the week were the right time to show off my silky flying skills.
I felt that was reasonable advice and I stick to it. What amazes me is the number of my FO's who only disengage at +100.
It's no surprise to me that the industry standard is to use the automatics to free up capacity and mask an increasing level of low experience.
Years ago a wise old Captain told me that he had no problem with hand flying provided that it was done following a briefing and advance notice to the PM who will end up doing more work, but suggested that I consider whether the first first or last sectors of the week were the right time to show off my silky flying skills.
I felt that was reasonable advice and I stick to it. What amazes me is the number of my FO's who only disengage at +100.
Re F/Os disconnecting at 100', you've answered your own question: 'pilots from Cessnas straight into highly automated jets'.
We used to spend a couple of years flying turboprops - learning how to fly in commercial operations and airspace before going onto big automatic jets.
Nothing wrong with automatics, but you need to know how to use them and you need the fundamentals in the background.
We used to spend a couple of years flying turboprops - learning how to fly in commercial operations and airspace before going onto big automatic jets.
Nothing wrong with automatics, but you need to know how to use them and you need the fundamentals in the background.
Last edited by Uplinker; 8th Mar 2016 at 16:57.
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M152: All well and good. indeed good pilot judgement is when to and when not; manual flight. What saddens me is the operators who discourage, forbid, make it too complicated etc. They are complicit in the dilution of basic skills. I understand the perceived financial & safety issues, but I wonder if that will turn round and bite them one day.
If it is windy, I will disconnect much earlier rather than later so I can "get in the groove" and feel the actual conditions, so that by the time I land, my brain is reasonably up to speed with its manual flying responses.
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Uplink: that point was made in an accident report of B757 that departed the runway during a severe X-wind landing. The A/P was disconnected at 500' all.
Ah. Yes, modern autopilots and FBW* are so good that one sometimes gets a nasty surprise on disconnecting to land!
So I prefer to disconnect early on those challenging days to experience how much the wind is throwing us about and to give my manual responses time to calibrate to the conditions before we land
(* Airbus, I don't know about Boeings - I am sure they are just as good)
So I prefer to disconnect early on those challenging days to experience how much the wind is throwing us about and to give my manual responses time to calibrate to the conditions before we land
(* Airbus, I don't know about Boeings - I am sure they are just as good)
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See accident report of the Hamburg incident http://www.bfu-web.de/EN/Publication...ublicationFile Summary Siet 12.
"When the respective ELAC unit has detected that the aircraft has touched down, within 0.5 seconds the system changes from Lateral Flight Law to Lateral Ground Law. The effect of this is:
• to cancel the aircraft feedbacks used in flight for the computation of ailerons / spoilers deflection, this one being only made using sidestick orders information,
• to limit the ailerons and roll spoilers 2, 3 and 4 deflection by about a half at high speed (Vc > 80 kt)”
When you disengage the AP and are manually flying in Normal Law, you still have no idea what the control surfaces are actually doing to satisfy your inputs. In gusty conditions, a small roll rate request on the side stick may need full aileron displacement - and you won't know.
How many qualified A320 pilots know that you only can get half aileron deflection with full side stick on landing?
See: Near-Crash in Hamburg: Investigators Criticize Airbus for Inadequate Pilot Manuals - SPIEGEL ONLINE
Years ago a wise old Captain told me that he had no problem with hand flying provided that it was done following a briefing
You need to brief because you are going to hand-fly?? Of course good CRM demands you as the captain should ask the permission of your first officer before you go click click.
Hi Goldenrivett,
Yes agreed there is no feedback through the stick, but you learn to measure that in other ways, such as how the aircraft reacts to your inputs.
If you are holding full sidestick to pick up a wing on short finals and nothing is happening, then I think you can assume that both your max roll demand and the FBW's is being applied and it is probably time to go-around and get away from the ground!
As for the Hamburg thing, I don't know enough about the inputs applied and the Airbus gains and FBW laws etc. to make a sensible comment, although Airbus do suggest the crab/de-crab technique - did Airbus change anything after that? I can't remember.
So far, I have not had a problem with crosswind landings, and I have had some hairy moments ! I find the partial spoiler deployment feature to be very useful in that situation.
Yes agreed there is no feedback through the stick, but you learn to measure that in other ways, such as how the aircraft reacts to your inputs.
If you are holding full sidestick to pick up a wing on short finals and nothing is happening, then I think you can assume that both your max roll demand and the FBW's is being applied and it is probably time to go-around and get away from the ground!
As for the Hamburg thing, I don't know enough about the inputs applied and the Airbus gains and FBW laws etc. to make a sensible comment, although Airbus do suggest the crab/de-crab technique - did Airbus change anything after that? I can't remember.
So far, I have not had a problem with crosswind landings, and I have had some hairy moments ! I find the partial spoiler deployment feature to be very useful in that situation.
