Ask The Pilot

[TomVexille]

What's the reason for HBA not using aerobridges....

Privatisation

 

[RooFlyer]

What's the reason for HBA not using aerobridges....

The owners don’t want to spend the capital cost and the ongoing operating cost when the peasants have been used to walking across the apron in the wind in the rain for decades.

 

[JessicaTam]

[mod hat]
A reminder that this thread is specifically for pilots to answer questions. Not general discussion.
[/mod hat]

 

[RSD]

As a kid (mid 1970's - early 1980's) in the pre-aerobridge era I remember walking from the terminal across the tarmac to the aircraft steps in Singapore, KL, Auckland, Wellington, Hong Kong (Kai Tak), Papeete, etc.

Walking across to the plane from the terminal was always a delight in Cairo in the early 90's... in the midday sun... in the middle of summer!

@jb747 - what things did we get wrong with the A380? It would be interesting to get some feedback from someone who has obviously used what we created.

 

[jb747]

@jb747 - what things did we get wrong with the A380? It would be interesting to get some feedback from someone who has obviously used what we created.

The 380 is now a relatively old aircraft in terms of systems, but overall it was well thought out. In particular the way the flight controls worked with a mix of hydraulic and electric actuation was very impressive (and safe). Some systems that should have been simple (like the chillers) seemed to be designed in hell, but I expect that was a lesson learnt.

One thing that always bugged me (and I expect it's across all Airbus) is the way the flight controls behaved in the flare. At 100' it would switch to 'flare law', which was basically direct law in pitch, but it remained in normal law in roll. The upshot of that was that whilst you could get nice linear pitch control, making small roll corrections was difficult, with it seemingly giving a minimum change of about 2º. I'd have preferred it to be in direct for roll too. This is relevant to landings in crosswinds, especially.