Re: Design Philosophy -Reply
Surendra Ratwatte (surenone_at_emirates.net.ae)
Thu, 27 Mar 1997 10:49:39 +0400
Wow,
Did someone open a can of worms or what?
Good discussion people, though it seems to me that they are two opposing
camps here, neither of which is willing to give an inch, (make that
centimeter).
I fly the older generation Airbus (300-600 and 310) which share some of the
philosophies of the 320, albeit in an simpler manifestation.
The problems mostly stem from one root cause. A poor understanding of the
aircraft and what it will do under a given set of circumstances, which in
turn comes from the *worst* written aircraft manuals in the industry. The
books people are SH*T. They have to be seen to be believed, after seven
years on the airplane I still have trouble finding important bits, not the
least because of an unbelievable amendment philosophy. We've re-written
them over here but unfortunately the bean counters wouldn't let us publish
as they have decided to replace these with 330's starting next year.
Anybody thought of studying manuals from a HF perspective?
Having said that, the aircraft is good and once understood a pleasure to
fly. John Bent is quite right, the Cali accident might have been averted if
the spoilers were to retract automatically in a Go-Around situation. This
is the case with the 320/330/340, but not with the 300/310.
For the record, I have bid for the 777 in preference to the 330. Make your
own conclusions.
Suren Ratwatte
Captain - A-300-600/A-310-300
Emirates Airlines
Dubai. UAE.
Usual disclaimers apply,about opinions being my own.....etc.