Few questions about airbus?

Question

I was watching the mythbusters airplane episode and wondered some things about the airbus. I'm not 100% positive it was an airbus but I'm pretty sure they used an a320 or a3-something simulator.

1. Isn't it uncomforable to control the plane with a jostick to the left, instead of a yoke in front of the pilot?

2. That joystick seemed really sensitive because the mythbusters were shooting up and down sharply, is it really sensitive?

3. They couldn't find the landing gear lever. My guess looking at this picture ( http://www.desert-astro.com/New-plane.JPG ) is that it is that lever to the right, under those 3 green lights, and right on top of that black guage, am I right?

4. Did you see that episode an how'd you like it?

Answer 1

re joystick...those jokers had about what? an hour practice...most fighters in US airforce have fly by wire and theres no problems...

Answer 2

After the first 15 minutes in the sim, a regular pilot will have no problem transitioning to the sidestick. At least that's been the experience of most training departments that have a mixed aircraft fleet.

The mythbuster guys aren't pilots. That was pretty evident when you saw them overcontrol the plane all over the place. That is normal when you throw a non-pilot into the sim.

The gear handle is pretty intuitive. It's a lever with a little wheel on the end of it. Up, down, with a wheel on it - Hey! could THAT be the gear? Yup. You've never been in the cockpit of an A-320 and already you know where the gear handle is. That's pretty good design. If you look in a Boeing or Douglas cockpit, you'll be able to find the gear lever just as easily.

They could have made the gear retract system a little switch that looks just like all of the other switches, thereby creating some confusion when you'd need gear up in a hurry, but they didn't.

Answer 3

dude i saw that episode

no other aircraft has a cokipit like that

no doubt about it that was not how they said a generic aircraft simulator  tha was an airbus u could even see the wings on that episode

i saw the episode i saw the gear lever on the picture

i think the cockpit yea and thos e 3 green lights are indecators that the ladning gear is down

Answer 4

well alittle at first but fighter planes have joysticks so yeah I'm used to it

Answer 5

Ya... I think that episode was set up.  

1. There is a landing gear label

2.Did you see their first try?  They didn't even make it.

3. The second one... how is it that they managed to do it perfectly

4. It took me 1 year to master even finding the runway

Answer 6

joystick is sensitive .. u are 1st trained to fly that baby u cant just go and be like lets go!! no i am a pilot i had to go threw trainin it is awesome!!! way easier!!!

Answer 7

1. If you are used to flying with a yoke in front of you,yes it would be uncomfortable for a while but you will get used to it.

2.The joystick should be no more sensitive than the traditional yoke in larger aircraft. All larger planes have artificial feel built into the system. You can thank Howard Hughes and the HK-1"Spruce Goose" Flying Boat for that development.

3.You are correct about the placement of the landing gear lever. The picture is of an Airbus A320 cockpit.

4.No I have not seen the episode you speak of.

Answer 8

Did you know that at the Airbus factory they have a wine vending machine in their break room?

Answer 9

i'm not a pilot but i've flown a few cessnas. I gotta tell you that joystick would drive me nuts especially if my weaker hand was next to it. i guess you get used to it like anything else.

its fly by wire which would drive me nuts until i got used to it too.

Answer 10

1. It takes some getting used to.  However with the the A320/330/340/380 the pilots never fly the airplane.  The side stick is only an input device, the pilot pulls back and the computers determine if the airplane can meet the request then command the ELAC, SEC and FAC (the fly-by-wire computers) to make the required outputs to the flight controls to meet the request of the pilots input.  Also every Airbus (Except A300 &A310) have the exact (nearly exact) same cockpit A320, A330, A340 and A380.  Airbus does this to reduce training costs, if a pilot goes from A320 to A340 the the largest difference in the cockpit is the 4 thrust levers and the 4 fire extinguisher pushbuttons.

2.  It can be at first, lots of new Airbus pilots spend a several minutes getting used to the joystick and the sensitivities.

3.  Most things in an airplane have distinct shapes, sounds and colors for a reason.  In every airplane the landing gear level looks like a wheel, the flap lever looks like a flap and so on.  Green and blue lights are good, yellow may be bad, red is bad.  The EGPWS system speaks in a female voice if the fault/problem is not extremely urgent and a male voice if the problem more urgent.