Ask The Pilot

[Saab34]

Sounds like the NG has many options and variables across the fleets.

What about the 737-200/300/400? Had they been more uniform?

 

[markis10]

They do have the tiller as well

One wonders if KLM took the option just in case the King wanted to do some F/O work as a 737 rated royal, probably not.

 

[AviatorInsight]

Sounds like the NG has many options and variables across the fleets.

What about the 737-200/300/400? Had they been more uniform?

From what I can tell the 300-400-500 types had varying options but were definitely a lot less than the NG. The biggest one being rounded dials or that hybrid digital readout on the center panel. That then flowed onto the center pedestal with weather radar and navigation options. Not to mention air stairs vs no air stairs. There were also a few lights on the center panel that were options such as showing reverser status.

 

[jb747]

Sadly just about everything is an option. And that gives airline execs the opportunity to save money by not taking items that the users consider safety items. The widespread reluctance to order HUDs, and even when they do, to only place them on one side, is a good example. Dual HUDs only happen when the maker makes them standard.

On a similar vein, is the case of Southwest and the 737 coughpit. They're the reason that the 737 never got a proper coughpit, with legacy controls existing to this day. And Boeing are still getting exemptions to the rules requiring proper EICAS systems, on brand new aircraft. Standardisation is useful, but kept for too long it becomes an anchor.

 

[mjt57]

On a similar vein, is the case of Southwest and the 737 coughpit. They're the reason that the 737 never got a proper coughpit,

Like that spinning wheel on either side of the centre console?

 

[jb747]

Like that spinning wheel on either side of the centre console?

That's to do with manual pitch trim, and it doesn't exist on (say) the 767 because there's an electric back up means of moving the tail. The entire issue of manual trim came to the fore after the MCAS crashes, and I'm sure AV can tell us much more about that. The idea was to incorporate something similar to the 757/767 panels. That would have given integration with EICAS, as well as some degree of commonality amongst the Boeing fleet, rather like Airbus had. Sadly, Southwest had an extremely large order pending, and they refused to accept any differences that would have required training...a story that repeated itself some years later.

 

[mjt57]

Question for international pilots: we're all seeing the news of visitors to the US being refused entry and deported.

Just wondering - how do the officials there treat aircrew? Is it any worse than before, much the same, etc.?

And if they didn't like the look of someone what would the repercussions be following their refused entry?

 

[jb747]

Question for international pilots: we're all seeing the news of visitors to the US being refused entry and deported.

Just wondering - how do the officials there treat aircrew? Is it any worse than before, much the same, etc.?

Obviously I can’t comment on whether it’s changed at all, but they were never all that nice in the first place. I always wished that our government would treat their crew the way they treated ours (in particular with regard to requiring a visa, that meant you had to send you passport away for an indeterminate period, every couple of years). The fact that you couldn’t work at all without it, was of zero interest to them.

And if they didn't like the look of someone what would the repercussions be following their refused entry?

There was a second officer, that immigration hassled every time he came to the USA. If I recall correctly, he had a middle eastern name. In any event it was normal for them to hold him up for hours, before eventually realising they were on a wild goose chase. The company ordered him separate hotel transport as a matter of course. The bit that I could never work out, was why they behaved that way every single time he came to the US.

If an issue was permanent, I’m sure the company would simply use the affected crew on different routes. I don’t know that anyone considers them to be all that reasonable, especially at the moment.