supercell86

This is just a random question...

I was wondering what airplane you would rather fly, the ERJ or CRJ? To me the ERJ seems so much nicer, I feel it is more quiet also, but is it a more complex a/c to learn compared the the CR? I ask this because I told a ATR pilot I wanted to be on the ERJ, and he said he'd be going to the CRJ cause he didn't want to mess with the "jungle jet"

BURflyer

As far as being more advanced, yes, the ERJ has a few more buttons than the CRJ to push. It has a radar that can map the terrain below, the plane is very smart and it makes it very easy for a low time guy to fly it, it even has a mouse the pilots can use to select points on the navigation display. The ERJ does have better performance than the CRJ but oddly it only has a cervice ceiling of 37k. Don't know what is more appealing flying a CRJ, it must be the traditional style yoke.

Punkpilot48

hmmmmm..... FADEC!

Space Monkey

Well just my opinions being that Im a CRJ jock myself although my best bud from college wound up in the 145 so this is an often discussed topic between us and this is kinda what we have come up with between the two of us..... What I will say is it think minus the computer APU, and from what I have heard the HYD issues in terms of MX. The larger EMB's (170 and up) are better than the CRJ however the CRJ is kinda a low rider sitting on the ground which makes the preflight in the morning miserable having to crawl under and check the wheel wells in the morning on a cold wet day can be back breaking. Plus checking the aft equip bay while the apu's running is deafening even with ear plugs.... So that is a major advantage to the 170.... However the 145 doesn't have this advantage. Also the cabin ceiling height in the 145 is lower than in the CRJ so more bending down for tall guys like myself also having ridden in the back of both I will say the 145 is slightly less comfortable than the CRJ. The ERJ does climb slightly better however the CRJ cruises faster unless its a 700 or 900 which in that case those will out climb a 145 no problems.... All CRJ's are still FAA certified to FL 410 however since the FLG 3701 incident most companies operating the CRJ 200 have put a FL 370 restriction on it the 7's and 9's are still good up to 410 though. I had heard that there was rumor of raising the ceiling of the 145 to 410 however from what my college bud tells me he kinda doubts that the 145 would be able to climb to 410 all the time and I have yet to hear of any action being taken towards raising the 145's ceiling.....The 145 uses the old 120 brasilia windshield so the cockpit is noisy (you will still need your DC's) while the CRJ has a Challenger nose section so it's pretty quiet ( I use telex 750's with no problems myself or often abv FL180 dont even wear a headset) you can talk with out a headset across the cockpit no problems using a regualar conversational tone. The CRJ 200 doesn't have FADEC or Eng sinc. Kinda a pain but not too bad its like flying the old navajo or something.... Also the engines have to be started the old fashioned way as a result but that's easy enough to do. What I like about the CRJ is it is in a sense a pilots airplane... Anytime I want Im just two buttons away from raw data hand flying...... Also the cockpit is quiet and relative comfortable... Really after a year and a half of flying it so far I have enjoyed it and have no real regrets.

dojetdriver

True, while the CRJ has no FADEC, the F-ull A-uthority part of the ERj's engines only becomes so when you tell it to. Kinda silly.

Punkpilot48

But its such an easy oral answer! Haha

They just updated our software that the engine wont over temp on startup.

MikeB525

Ok, this means absolutely nothing coming from someone who's still flying single engines, but I figured I'd tell you what I think. I have "flown" the Wilco CRJ-700 on MS FlightSim, but the product is kinda disappointing. I've also extensively read a CRJ systems website which has alot of good info. Got a nice cockpit training poster on my wall as well.

Heres what I think:

I LOVE the CRJ flightdeck. It seems to have a nice, clean, modern, yet traditional set up. The seats look very comfy, as do the yokes. I like the "needles" method for navigating. It gives the pilot the ability to have a variety of set ups on the nav display, yet still have a near full HSI, which can be switched at will between the FMS and both Nav freqs. But I think the ERJ has a similar set up.

But I really prefer the "more dedicated" displays on the CRJ. The ERJ has a single EICAS screen, so it then crams system synoptics and other things onto the bottom of the Nav displays. Yuck! I like the two EICAS screens on the CRJ. It's just gives you more room, so you don't have to "cram" information onto displays. You can have full synoptic pages displayed while not compromising the size of the nav map.

The autopilot looks to be simple to use, yet competant. But I assume both planes are like that.

Overall the CRJ is a bigger plane and probably more desireable from a "career at the regionals" standpoint. It's size probably induces more "passenger confidence" as well.

I also prefer the traditional yokes and also the traditional thrust reverser levers. Overall, I just really like the way the CRJ flight deck is set up and I would prefer it over the ERJ. I hope I someday have to opportunity to fly it for real.

But any airplane is only as good as the COMPANY you're flying it for. It doesn't matter which is nicer if your company sucks. Thats why for me, it's SkyWest CRJ all the way!

These are just my thoughts as an outside observer.

Sennaha

ERJ has a MFD multi functional display. No need for dual EICAS. I sat in both and the center pedestal of the CRJ is large. In my opinion it takes up space that I can be stretching out. One bad thing on the ERJ, loud as hell when you are going fast. 320 at 10k, out of hand. If you are at FL350 and .73-.74 it is almost acceptable.

spitfire1500

I've been on the ERJ awhile and the only two big gripes I have, first it is loud as hell inside and second the radar is garbage.
The service ceiling of 370 and VMO of 320 or Mach .78 were established to keep the plane way inside its envelope since Embraer has pushed the plane as an easy turboprop to jet transition plane. Embraer has flown the plane outside these limitations.
One thing Bombardier has done that I can't understand with the newer CRJ 700 and 900's is that they have put the FADECS out in the engine cowling area... correct me if I am wrong...Embraer put them in an avionics compartment in the rear of the plane which I think if there is a cat. fail in the eng I want them away from it.

dojetdriver

True, but the systems display in the ERJ is crap. You have very little idea whats going on compared to the CRJ's systems pages.

I don't think the Airbus/777,747-400 has an issue with dual eicas.