Airbus or Boeing?
 

Just wondering what type of Aircraft everyone prefers to fly. I personaly like the way Airbuses fly alot more than a boeing aircraft. I was just in the A320 sim, and have been in the 767 sim. The airbus was just amazing to fly, I absolutly loved flying it. I found it far superior to the 767. Just wondering what all you guys thought of flying Boeing and Airbus. I know alot of pilots hate trying to deal with all the new technology of the airbus, but I found the airbus 100 times easier to fly than even small private planes.

Real men have yokes, not joy sticks. :D

Sorry, couldn't resist.

All airplanes flight great! Its just that some fly greater than others.

Now which is better? Airbus or Boeing or Airbus or Boeing or Airbus or Boeing or Airbus or Boeing or Airbus or Boeing or Airbus or Boeing. I just can't decide. But which pays a better salary?

Real pilots like their sticks............:D

From what I have seen, pretty much the only pilots that hate the Bus are the ones that have never flown it...

Airbus for comfort and technology. Boeing for flight response and general intuitiveness. Whichever plane pays more and has better QOL for me.

What kind of pilots????;)

McDonnell Douglas :D

I think the best flying jet aircraft of all time would have to be between the DC-9-10 series and the 727. I haven't flown the 757, but everyone who has raves about it. I thought the 737 was pretty sloppy , but my experience is limited to -300 and 400s. The MD-80 was nice, but you had to be pretty experienced in it to really fly it well. The 777 isn't really great to fly from a hand flying standpoint nor would any of the fly-by-wire Airbii as it is all artificial feel. Personally I prefer the real thing and nothing can ever beat cable and pulleys for pure feel.

If you are talking about technology than the 777 is the hands down winner. The Honeywell Pegasus FMS and electronic checklist plus very user friendly design make it dead simple to fly. If you want to get into design philosophy arguments than Boeing is, again, the hands down winner. Modern Boeings will warn you when you are going to exceed a limit, but if you still want to exceed it you are able to.

TP

If you cant fly a plane with the loss of 4 engines on one side, you dont know how to fly!!!;)

The A340 should be just as advanced as the 777. I have not had the chance to see the 777 in action though. What kind of new systems does the 777 have? Hopefuly I will be able to get in one of their sims as soon as AirCanada starts recieving their 777 orders.
But I still think Airbus is the winner, boeing is just starting to perfect the technology airbus developed in the mid 80's.

Who's really at the controls
 

What technology is that?? Having computer programmers fly the airplane instead of pilots??:eek:

Computer in command
 

Well, at least the pilot is allowed to SUGGEST flght control movements to the computer! :p

What about the super-advanced tecnology of having major structural components remain attached to the fuselage...
AA 587
Air Transat 961
A380 (the wings snapped off at LESS than ultimate load...)

I've heard about you buff guys and the deadly seven engine approach:rolleyes:

You can have the computer fly it or YOU can fly it. Like the info it gives the pilot is unmatched. You could land a manual CAT 3(not that your allowed to), because of all the extra info it provideds. You can manualy fly an airbus with the winshield covered up and still be able to land it if you wanted. I even tried a landing without looking out the front, just used the screens and it was dead on. The 767 didnt even come close the the flying ability of the A320.

The 777 (and presumably the 787) does all that kind of stuff too. But you can press a button and manually override a Boeing. You cannot override the bus; ultimately IT makes the decisions, and you're along for the ride.

Yah that is true. I was just refering to the flight deck and flight control systems though.

Yah, ive never gotten the chance to fly the 777 sim. Hopefully soon I will.
The only real limitation I ran into on the 320 was when I did a rapid decent off of a pressure failure and the stupid speed restriction kicked in. Other than that it was just numerous cautions and warnings for the limitations and programing. It still let you do preety much whatever you wanted, just constantly would give you warnings.

Does the airbus allow you to roll into a 45 or maybe a 70 degree bank? I have heard (having never flown one) that the computer limits what it sees as acceptable limits. My personal opinion is that if I as a captain, decide I need a 70 degree bank to avoid something I don't want to have to negotiate with a computer, particularly a french computer. Of course I see the logic of protecting the aircraft from idiots as well - and we all know there are some out there.

I think it is important to remember that the 767 is close to 10 years older than the A320.

I also have something to say about the stick. I learned to fly with a stick (gliders and tail wheel), but come on, this is an airliner with 150 people on board, not a video game.

The difference is that you fly the Boeing while the Airbus flies you.

Just like the A320 is 10 years older than the 777, yet people compare the 777 to the Airbus systems. The Difference is the 777 and A320 technology is on the same level even though the 320 is 10 years older. While the 767 isnt even in the same ball park as the 320 with it being 10 years younger.
I didnt think the stick was a very good thing before, but now after using it I love it.

Yah I do believe there might be a limit on banks. It is preety much idiot proof, but there are some very stupid people that still can screw it up. All the incidents usualy are to do with pilots who think the computer will fix any mistakes that they do, so the pilots just watch and wait for the computer to fix it.

The 777 is a full generation ahead of the A320/A330/A340. From a maintenance perspective the Boeing is the hands down winner. When we pull into places that the Airbus flies as well the engineers are always complimentary of the 777, but not of the Airbus. Airbus ( the company ) is now offering to pay potential customers the operating cost differential between the A340 and the 777. The 777 is so much more efficient it isn't even a contest. It can carry ten tonnes more payload while burning 10 tonnes less fuel over a typical long haul route. That while getting there 30 minutes faster.

You can't judge Boeing because you flew a 767 simulator. Nor can you fully judge an Airbus because you flew an Airbus 320 simulator. It's the whole package that you have to look at.


Typhoonpilot

Im not trying to say that Airbus is the best overal, I was just saying I prefer the way it flies. Overal the 777 does probably beat the A340, as is shown in the orders for last year(I think it was like 200 and something to 15). Air Canada thinks so highly of the 777 that they are going back on their conversion to an all airbus fleet(they were about 85% airbus).
But it was airbus that revolutionized commercial jets.

I agree, although the DC-9/MD-80 types had heavier control forces than the Boeings. The 727 was "quickest", but loud and cramped; and your outboard arm and leg froze on long night flights. The DC9-30 and 767-300 were somewhat underpowered, having been stretched without adding enough engine. We called the 767-200 "the dump truck". The 757 was a dream, and the 767-300ER was an even better dream. Never got to fly the 777, as I had to retire 5 years early to protect my lump sum--but I hear it's the best. :D

an 15 year american f/o i know says the 727 was the "harley davidson" of airliners. hes been on the trip7 and 737 since then

i dont see boeing's rudders falling off over queens!!!

There ain't nothing as agile, responsive, fast, and lands like a like twin as the old B727-100. Perfect flying airplane all the way around. Except for the position of the control columns... slightly off center, and the pneumatic design for Air Conditioning on the ground... heat up the floor on the left side. But the handling characteristice outshone the minor woes

DC-10 has them all beat. Best Ever !!

Best damn jump seat in the world... almost as good as the L-1011

Lets see on a scale of 1--10-

B727=7 (about 400hrs on a 100 nice all power controls)
B707=6 (about 1000 hrs no power exept rudder veerrryy heavy)
B737=7 (about 150 hrs all power like a big fighter)
MD-83=8(about 8000 hrs you can see where my heart is lol)
DC-9/50=7(about 2000 hrs no power but handles well)
A320/321=8(about 1800 hrs a beautiful plane to fly)
LR60=9( only 100 hrs this is a fighter in disguise, OMG 23,500 MTW and 4600 a side hows that for power 2 weight lol)

all in all a bunch of super planes.

You know what they say....

"If it aint a Boeing, It aint going!!"

The 777 was my favorite airplane in a 37 year career. Including the 747-400 I might add. :)

Get it right....It's the deadly six engine approach. Ya pulled the corresponding opposite engine back to idle.;)

Whats the deadly six engine approach mean? Is it a joke or something, I have heard people refer to it before?

It's an Air Force thing :p

Joke
 

A pilot loses his engine in his single engine F-16.
F-16 pilot: "Mayday, mayday, declaring an emergency. I've lost my engine, and I'm returning to land on runway 36."
Tower: "F-16, roger, your number behind a B-52 with an engine failure. Follow him.
F-16 pilot: "Aaaah, the dreaded 7 engine approach."

Joke goes something like that.

Boeing ! -or it ain’t going!

So Drew, ever fly a modern Airbus?

Ahh, I get the joke now, I figured it was military. Oh, and Captain Drew I have check your personal web site before (BTW really interesting stuff on there), how did I know you would be a boeing guy over the airbus:D BTW just joking with you.

The A-320 limits pilot inputs to 67 degrees bank in normal law...which incidentally would produce a load factor of 2.5Gs in level flight. The upper load limit in the clean configuration is 2.5Gs. The protections were designed that way so that we couldn't tear the wings off of it. The problems IMO begin when guys don't understand, misuse, or abuse the automation (NW captain who turned off all 7 flight computers on a revenue flight, Indian Airlines crash, Paris air show accident, etc.)