A320 - Feet position for taxi and TO
 

I couldn't find any reference in the FCOM/FCTM unless I missed it, but where does Airbus want our feet to be for Takeoff and Taxiing.

Fully on the pedals or heals on the floor?

Not in the FCOM, but keep in mind that under certain situations the pilot is required to maintain directional control through differential braking. This is best achieved by placing the full feet on the pedal and using the heels for directional control and the tips for braking.

Oooo!
For take off, my heels were always on the floor to prevent inadvertent braking like these chaps.
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/w...y-players.html
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5423046f40f0b61342000b77/Gulfstream_G150__D-CKDM_12-11.pdf

If you need to reject and you have loss of braking on wet/slippery runway you will need to modulate braking pressure with the tips while maintaining directional control with the heels.

As I said, nothing written in the manuals, just my personal view.

Airbus doesn't specify as far as I'm aware, but talking to some of our training captain, I shifted from heels on the floor to heels up. The risk of brake application is minimal during TO if you keep your toes up, but needing to apply differential braking at max crosswind could be difficult otherwise. The time taken to shift heels up to the pedals in a heavy crosswind might be just the thing that puts you off the side of the runway. Same with max manual braking if needed.

I did a Technical Request to Airbus a few months back regarding this.

XXX: My name,
ZZZ, ICAO Code of the airline I did the request for.

Yes, I spoke in person to a couple of Airbus guys (and not sales reps/TREs...) about this at a conference and they confirmed that Airbus will never be so prescriptive to tell people where to put their feet, but the pilot must be able to apply full braking immediately without any delay. They unofficially verbally confirmed to me that the only way to achieve this is to have your toes on the brakes.

Less than 72 kts is not a killer speed so you have time to move your feet to apply brakes. Auto brakes and heels on the floor for me. I'm flown Airbus, BAe, Boeing , Gulfstream and McDonald Douglas with and without auto brake and regardless I'm always heels on floor. And I've rejected close to V1.

Absolutely. Coming from Boeings and having flown for many years into a home airport where strong crosswinds are the standard, I agree that as long as a person has developed the exact technique you described, it works great. I use it. Maintain the exact position and pressure on the pedals for the crosswind correction, while sliding the feet the pedals to initiate even braking. The tricky bit with Airbus rudder pedals is that they are LONG. If your foot is not ALL the way to the top (your toe will hit the stop on the top of the pedal), your braking will be uneven. Folks coming from other types often don't realize they are not using the entire pedal, and that full brake deflection is not possible unless you do so. If you regularly land the Airbus and wonder why you always have to hold the pedals one side or another even in calm wind, or have one side brakes that always heat up more, check you foot position and feel for the stop all the way up on the top of the pedals next time. For the same reason, the angle of the pedal is somewhat different than other types, so it is difficult to inadvertently brake even if your heels are up.

In other words both techniques work. The key point is to use whichever one gives you best control at all times, which is more than likely dependent on past experience and the shape of your foot and flexibility in your ankles! The other key is to again, make sure that both feet are all the way up to the top of the pedals during manual braking.

Since speed for taxiing is slow it's not an issue, keep it up or down. For takeoff there is no recommended position. But in adverse conditions sliding the feet up for differential braking with full rudder in EFATO low speed reject can be a handful. In B747 classic rudders were not connected to nose wheel making very difficult. I always kept my feet on top and was very easy to slam the brake and rudder. In A320 with A/BRAKE and some control of nosewheel through rudders should not be difficult. As stated by Airbus as long as the objective to use full rudder deflection and differential braking can be achieved use any position you are comfortable with.

Otherwise known as the low-cost foot warmer ;)

vilas: you are coming across as far too sensible and reasonable - that never goes down well on PPRUNE!!!

I'm comfortable with my feet up or down. One point that hasn't been made is inadvertent autobrake disconnection. With feet on thd floor, you're less likely to accidentally disconnect autobrakes, which is particularly undesirable in the RTO case. If I'm not mistaken, a few years ago, Boeing or Airbus put out some info stating that autobrakes are far superior in that case.

I am a strong supporter of the "feet up" position, as this is the way we were taught back in 1994 during the A320 type rating. Since then I kept teaching it this way to my trainees and that was also the policy in the airline where I have spent the most of my career. I believe that the "feet up" position has only pros and only 1 single con that I have had the chance to experience a few times on some trainees, that it is the possibility of applying brake pressure during take offs with strong cross winds on the upwind brake, especially if the trainee pumps the rudder. That happened maybe 3 or 4 times in 25 years so I am happy with that statistics compared to all the benefits of the feet up position.

That's true. With feet up one needs to use rudder with pressure on heels and keeping the ball of the feet lightly on the pedals. In case of AB malfunction it's very easy to slam both brakes without any delay. Also true that in case of reject AB provides instant symetrical braking.

In the SIM it is much easier to do the aborted high speed T/O and engine failure above V1 with the heels on the ground. Off course, in the SIM I haven't had the auto-brakes fail either....
I think, based on the way the pedals are designed that it is Airbus unspoken preference to keep the heels of the ground, just IMHO.

It takes quite a lot of pressure to disconnect the autobrake in case of an abort (A320) . And even then I can still brake manually.
So for me it is feet up. Always.
Imagine an takeoff abort with crosswind. And then the autobrake does not kick in, and your heels are on the floor. I guess it will take several seconds to get your feet into position for braking.

Does anyone know if the certification for RTO was done using autobrakes or manual braking? That may shed some light on this recurring question.

Manual braking with brakes worn to their overhaul limit.

At the end of the day, is it really necessary for Airbus to get into that level of detail? Do what you think is appropriate. Are there discussions on how to hold the sidestick as well?

In the A320 series, your feet should be fully on the pedals for T.O. and landing. I feel very strongly about that!

'My' FCTM says: 'The flight crew must have their feet in a position so that full rudder deflection combined with full braking, even differential, can be applied instinctively and without delay.
The only way that can be achieved in tha A320 is by having your feet ON the pedal.
If you ever need to abort t.o. after a severe engine failure at very low speed or at any speed with a 38 kts crosswind, you will need to use full rudder + differential braking immediately if you want to keep it on the runway!
Autobrakes will not help you to keep in on the runway! Worse: you WILL be giving hard and full rudder instinctively and from that moment on it becomes very difficult to move that foot up to brake!!

Keeping your heels on the floor will work nicely as long as all goes well, but that's not what we're getting paid for. We earn our salary by being ready for the unexpected when the sh*t hits the fan!

When the day comes that an A320 leaves the rwy after a half second delay in differential braking by a pilot having his feet on the floor, Airbus will say: 'Hey, we told you to be ready. Why weren't you?

The A320 pedals are designed to have your feet ON the pedals. I know that's not the case in most other airliners. Pilots transitioning from other types should be instructed to have their feet on the pedals. It might take some time to get used to, but after a while it feels very normal, comfortable and not hard at all.

At low speed Auto brake wouldn't work to start with and stopping is not critical but keeping it on the RW is. There was a RW excursion because differential braking could not be applied although due to improper seat adjustment the toes could not reach the deflected rudder top. But even with proper seating it's difficult to slide the foot up after full rudder application. It is very easy to do that if you place the feet on top.

Yes there are, and that is in the CBT as well. in the past 25 years I have seen people coming up with so many funny theories on how to place the hand on the sidestick that I could't believe it.

My initial question was rhetorical, but it's clear that some people are overly concerned with minute details. Not quite 25 years, but I've observed a range of grips. As long as the plane's doing what it's supposed to, I'd like to hope that nobody would tell another crewmember how to hold the sidestick.