Right, the AP, but the FD made the AP fly like a wounded bird. I remember one guy I flew with that was new to the plane and I had warned him about the crapy AP/FD. The weather was down to mins and he elected to hand fly it on the FD. To his dismay he followed that thing as if it where taking him to the Promised Land. At about 400' that thing was tilting wildly left and right, sending him WAY off of the loc. MISSED APPROACH TIME and he learned a lesson of not always trusting that darn FD. Just because it’s SUPPOSED to tell you or the aircraft where to go, doesn't mean it’s doing its job. ALWAYS monitor your raw data, no matter how automated your craft is (rant mode off). Also, not trying to get into a pi$$ing match here, but wasn't it restricted to 1000' on the left side and 1500' on the right? Maybe that was just a company imposed restriction (1500/1000) that we had at my old company. I can't remember.

Another reason why I almost always hand flew the bird once vectored onto the approach. Plus, I liked to keep my head out of my a$$ by keeping my "flying skills" up to date.

The JetStream. It's a piece of sh!te, but it will make you a real pilot.

The ATR 72-212A wasn't bad. Pretty quiet and had the poor man's auto throttles.

Heard the ATR is very heavy, feels like a 747 when you're landing it.

At the company I work for the CA could always leave the autopilot on until 200', but the FOs had to turn off the AP at 1,000'. I'm sure each company has their own rules. None the less the AP/FD isn't very good. Hit direct somewhere at FL370 and watch the AP crank in 30 degrees of bank left when it should go right than crank in 30 degrees of bank back to the right. Makes a lot of since. It's always nice when you're saying "no it's the other way!"

I don't know about heavy or 747 like, but yes it was a little sluggish in maneuvering. Its a relatively large aircraft compared to its control surfaces. Maybe it was the big wing on it that made it feel that way, but I’m not really sure why.

I only had about 400 hours in it, but I liked it. It had two FAs also, Cranky and Dopey. I would always hang out with Dopey, she didn't know any better
.:D

Yea well as long as dopey is of age!:D

Dumb CRJ question:

I know the CRJ-200 does not have a FADEC, but then what is the Electronic Engine Control (EEC)? According to a CRJ systems website, above 79% N1 the engines are in Electronic mode, with the EEC sync'ing the engines if the throttles are close together, etc. It also says that it adjusts the idle speed to always get the same idle thrust. How does that kind of stuff differ from a FADEC?

And what do the "Engine Control" switched behind the throttles for?

The 200 has mechanical linkages from thrust levers to fuel control system,

Below 79% N2, the thrust levers control fuel directly and manually.

Above 79% N2, if the EEC is engaged, the EEC is SUPPOSED to fine-tune fuel flow as you climb out and maintain N1. I have never observed it keeping the fans synched or maintaining the set N1, always seems that you have to make continous manual adjustments. The mechanical linkage overides the EEC. The EEC uses the T2C probe in the engine inlet to detemine inlet air density.


The 700/900 have FADEC, the thrust lever has no mechanical linkage, it's basically an electrical switch. The FADEC observes the position of the thrust levers and maintains the optimal N1 for the flight conditions. It also synchs the N1's. The FADEC levers have detents...cruise, climb, TO/GA...you put it there and the computer does the rest.

The engine control switches :
Arm & test the APR
Test the VIB (Maintenance)
Arm the EEC.

How crappy is "crappy pay"? What IS the pay difference between, say ERJ 145 and CRJ?

It would depend on the airline, but pay is USUALLY based on seating capacity...since the CRJ 100/200 and the ERJ-145 all have 50 seats, they should pay the same.

I would estimate first year FO on a 50 seat RJ would be $15-22K.

After probation, $28-35K

4 year Captain pay, $50-65K

Variable depending on which airline and how much you fly.