Approach plates can be clipped to the yoke, and as far as meals go, I'd hardly call the added convenience of being able to set a tray down for the tiny fraction of the flight a pilot actually spends eating a "great advancement." The sidestick further removes the pilot from the loop, since it doesn't provide any tactical feedback. If anything, it's a degradation in human factors.

 

The pilots never have clipped plates on their yoke, but instead put it on the side tray under the window on all the boeing flights I've been on. Maybe it is preference but maybe its not but its definitely convenient. Furthermore, with long haul operations, one could place a laptop on the tray if accessing material such as MEL or Ops Specs. Just an observation.

 

Most hydraulic aircraft don't provide much in the way of tactile feedback... it's the same whether your flying along at 120 knots, still on the ground, or at FL390 and .85 mach. Same goes for many of the advanced fly by wire aircraft/fighters that are out there in the wild blue yonder.

Unless you are flying a smaller aircraft (such as the Citation) which has no hydraulic boost, the difference between a yoke and sidestick is more preference than feel/performance.

I do consider having a place to conveniently set up the laptop/DVD player a "great advancement" for pilot convenience these days...

 

I've never flown a 'bus or a Boeing, but I have flown a Cessna Skyhawk and a Katana - it's the same stick vs. yoke situation. I really don't prefer one over the other, although I do feel like I have a better grip on things when I can use both hands to fly.

 

ya, enough said! Boeing all the way!

 

I have a question about FBW/sidestick aircraft (for someone that has actually flown one, please): When the autopilot is engaged, can you feel or see the stick move while the AP is flying (like in a conventional control setup), or is the stick stationary as if it were a computer game joystick?

If the stick stays "dead" during AP operations, this would bug me. In a conventional control aircraft, you can leave a hand on the yoke and feel what the AP is doing and still have some connection to the status of the aircraft, like in turbulence or on a coupled approach.

 

True...the artificial feel in a hydraulic system still isn't like a mechanical, and for a 5-hour session in the Boredom Tube, I can definitely see the advantage of having a place to set your DVD player.

 

I put my flight number on a piece of paper on the yoke and make notes on it as needed. "Souls on board", HF freq.s, etc. I put my Jepps in a 1" trip book clipped to the side holder. Works fine.

I've never flown an airbus, so I won't say anything about it. Some people comment that it was made for inexperienced pilots to fly easily.?

Boeing has some old cockpits- even the NG 737 keep the 1960's cockpit. I don't like that. I do like flying the 737. The 757/767 is a transitional cockpit. Half glass, half analog from the 1980's. Still they are great aircraft and I love to fly them. The 767-400 has the modern cockpit and is real nice. The 777 has got the new cockpit too. The 787 will be even a little better. Airbus wasn't even around in the "old cockpit instrument" days, so it's not fair to compare. Both "modern" Boeings and Airbus's have modern cockpits and instruments. While new instruments are cool and nice, the old or new instruments tell you the same thing and a plane is a plane. I like the last one I flew. I like the one I fly now. I'll like the one I fly next too.

I'd like to fly an Airbus someday to compare, but I'd better hurry- the A350 & A380 might kill Airbus for good.

 

A laptop or DVD player fits fine in front of the throttle quadrant and plugs in behind the FO if you need to. Not that I've ever done that. I just heard that from others.

My meals are served on trays that fit on my lap just fine. It is hard to see the instruments/map when you have the seat back and reclined- the yoke is in the way. I have to sit up to see it or just look at the CA's side.

 

On another forum a guy named Dale Gribble has flown the A350 and several Boeings. He said from his personal experience if he never touches an Airbus he'll be just fine with that.

If it aint Boeing I aint going!