Originally Posted by Velcro Captain

With five years of flying the line in the A300/310, I have to agree with the company on this one.

Let’s think about this. If it is so important to install a new rudder-use warning system in the cockpit, why is it only being demanded for the A300/310? The engineers insist the A300/310 vertical tails meet the same certification as all other transport aircraft. So, if they are correct about structure not being a problem, why insist on this pilot warning system only for the A300/310? If it’s needed to make the A300/310 safe, then I contend it must also be required for the A320, A330, A340, and A380. Of course we want our Boeing and MD transport category aircraft to be just as safe, so why not the same system for them? Furthermore, if this wonderful new warning system is so critical to flight safety, then why isn’t the FAA insisting on it?

When I did a military staff tour in aircraft acquisition it seemed the desk jockey engineering solution to a lot of problems was to come up with a new beeper, bell, whistle, horn, and flashing light to warn the pilot that he/she was the problem, since the engineer’s perfectly designed airplane obviously was not. Of course engineers get to defend their efforts after an accident. Dead pilots are denied the same opportunity.

“As usual, Jake thought, the solution to almost every problem ended up in the cockpit.” Stephen Coonts, “Flight of the Intruder”

Originally Posted by Huck

Pitch, Power, Airspeed. You've got two, you don't need the third. I used to teach private pilot students about a hundred years ago, and before they went for their check ride I'd make them do a pattern with the airspeed covered up. It forced them to watch pitch angle and power settings.



I even had it happen to me in a C-180 that had a bug in the pitot tube a couple of years ago. I just went back to the basics - Pitch, Power, Airspeed.