Originally Posted by
DC8DRIVER
Sooooo ... the thrust levers don't actually adjust the thrust? There are simply detents that pilots place them in to correspond to the desired phase of flight? Or are there also modes that allow the pilot to actually have more of a "direct" control over a variable thrust setting?
Not trying to stir the pot, I'm just fascinated by the different logic of Airbusses.
Ever fly a FADEC GA airplane?
Same thing.
In fact, it's exactly the same thing Boeing does, except the thrust levers don't move, whereas in the Boeing the throttles do.
There is a mode that allows the pilot to have more direct control of the engines. It's called "Autothrust: OFF."
There are three detents for the thrust levers (out of idle)
TOGA
Flex
Climb
TOGA and Flex are used for takeoffs. Climb is used for everything else. When the thrust levers are in the Climb detent the Autothrust has a range anywhere from Idle to full Climb power. The only way to know what the engines are doing at any given moment is to look at the screens.