RockChalk

For those of you that have flown both, I was curious which aircraft you preferred, and more importantly, why?

gloopy

Hold on let me get popcorn...

RunFast

That's a can of worms. I fly the baby bus and can say that it's a nice office to work in. I commute on both (front and back) and I go out of my way to ride the Bus. Just my narrow view.

sailingfun

I don't think you fly an Airbus. You manage it. Airbus made a effort to engineer the pilot out of the aircraft. That means you really can't compare flying a Boeing to managing a Airbus.

TTOCSMCC

This is a commonly held misconception about Airbus, one typically held by those that have little or no experience on the airplane. All modern day airliners have a lot of automation. The Airbus like the Boeing has 2 wings, 2 (...4) engines all following the same laws of physics to stay aloft.

SkiBum112

Both have advantages and disadvantages. Boeing is built like a tank, and Airbus is built for comfort. Having flown both, I still prefer the Airbus even though it has it's quirks.

Carl Spackler

Friend of mine who flies the A330 says its like m*******tion. He says: You know, m*******tion kind of feels a little like sex, but it's not really. Flying the Airbus kind of feels like flying, but it's not really. And in either case, you're not very proud to tell all your buddies what you just got through doing.

Just thought I would start the thread drift early.

Carl

80ktsClamp

I see you're as diversely educated and aware on this as you are on ALPA issues.

freightguy

The Airbus is certainly more comfortable and spacious. The tray table is worth it's weight in Gold. You don't have to look side-ways at your approach plate or clip your approach plate on the yoke. Inflight meals are easier to eat on an Airbus. The joystick is fun to fly as well... but you do lose a bit of feedback.

Boeings are a little more cramped due to the big-a$$ control wheel. However, you do have more feedback on the control wheel. I think Boeings are a bit more fun to land.

Airbus is more automated. It has bank, pitch, stall limits you cannot exceed under normal flight. However, usually a pilot never even gets close to those limits during routine flights. So you really don't feel the difference unless you're looking for the flight envelopes.

Airbus attempted to protect against some pilot errors by adding increasing automations and limitations. However at the end of the day the accident rates are same on both the fleets. In an Airbus, the computer will kill you. In a Boeing, the pilot will kill you

Carl Spackler

Yes. Here is an example of its bank angle limiter. Boeing refers to it as the #4 engine.





Carl