Anyone fly an ERJ-145?

[C-12Bubba]

Hello Y'all;

I'm inteviewing with ExpressJet on St. Patrick's day, and I'm curious if any of you guys who fly the -135-145ER/LR-or XR wanted to comment on it's performance, avionics, or general characteristics that you either like or dislike.

things like: "it climbs like a pig", or "it's noisy in the cockpit, and you have to wear david clarks." or "it doesn't have vnav, so you have to figure out crossing restrictions in your head and stuff..."
Things like that...

Thanks in advance for responses, and have a Guinness for me on St. Patty's day (I'll be having several when I get home)!!!

 

[Instigator]

Hello Y'all;

things like: "it climbs like a pig", or "it's noisy in the cockpit, and you have to wear david clarks." or "it doesn't have vnav, so you have to figure out crossing restrictions in your head and stuff..."
Things like that...

It sounds like you've already got it all figured out.

 

[Mr Hat]

Your correct except on a few things....
The 145XR and 135 climb fairly well.
The radar is almost worthless and its sporatic so you don't know before you take off if its going to work or not. The E145 has the highest lightening strikes for a reason.

You don't have to figure out crossing restrictions, the FMS will give you a glide slope but you have to follow it down by setting a rate of descent.

Overall, I like the airplane. The only real gripe I have is the radar and thats only because I've been spanked by it before. I do everything I can not to have to rely on it 100% for thunderstorm avoidance.

 

[coex]

You forgot to mention that the seats suck!

They tend to slide back at the worst possible times, even if you think you have them locked in place.

 

[Be200pilot]

it doesnt climb as bad as the crj. its very fun and easy to fly. cockpit noise only seems to be bad 270kts and above though.
it can be tricky to slow down and get down in icing conditions because the engines spool up in ice, even at idle.

 

[Capt. Over]

Radar is fine.....

the one's that don't work are working just fine......it's the operator that is INOP. Knowledge of how to properly work a radar is a very rare thing for most people.

 

[THE GRX]

completly disagree. worst radar that i have ever used. it will lead you into stuff that you would normally see with a normal radar. EMB techs have admitted to crews at my Company that the radar is substandard and they were looking for potential fixes.

 

[Future SNA]

Well...........

As for the plane, I can't help you, but I will let you know the FTD flies pretty nice, and it's odd, there's pretty much no wind noise, so little I didn't even have to put the headset on!

Seriously though, I'll have to see if I can make it work, but Igoing from flying around at FL240, painting the storm and no ground clutter, and then transitioning to a jet at FL370, and having to paint ground clutter, as well as wx, and differentiating between the two, can cause people to think the radar's on ANY jet suck.

 

[Capt. Over]

Well said Turd.....

my point exactly.

 

[Future SNA]

Yeah, it's a long, viscious cycle.........
Turd out

 

[Britpilot]

Thanks for all the help from you "radar experts" who know much more than the pilots that fly the 145.
The manufacturer of this radar has admitted publicly that the system has a problem. It is still not fixed. We have one airplane flying that has a modified radar system and by all reports it seems to work better. We live in hope.

 

[lazy8s]

I was a RADAR Tech (among other things) in the Navy for 6 years and have never seen a RADAR give bad information as much as this one does. For example, if it is in Stab mode, it does not automatically adjust to the pitch of the airplane. Instead, it seems to lock in on the tilt setting it's in.

ie. at FL370, you may be looking at a storm at 100 mi at -1 to +1 deg of tilt (depending on what you are looking for); start a descent at 4-5 deg nose down and the RADAR picture gets really bad.

That's just a start on what's wrong with it.

The best way to make it work for you is to constantly adjust it in flight when looking at a return and then decide what to do based on numerous scales and tilts to get a 'clear' picture of what's out there. The key thing is not to put full trust in it or you'll end up wishing you weren't flying that day.

lazy8s

Other than that the 145 is a great plane to fly.

 

[Ponchus pilot]

things like: "it climbs like a pig", or "it's noisy in the cockpit, and you have to wear david clarks." or "it doesn't have vnav, so you have to figure out crossing restrictions in your head and stuff..."

It climbs like a champ. Today I did 1500 FPM all the way up at 49000lbs in an XR.
There are other options for headsets. Its has wind noise, but its sure a lot quieter than a prop. no vibrations.
VNAV is comming soon. Also, The fms calculates your descent.

 

[SATCFI]

It climbs like a champ. Today I did 1500 FPM all the way up at 49000lbs in an XR.
There are other options for headsets. Its has wind noise, but its sure a lot quieter than a prop. no vibrations.
VNAV is comming soon. Also, The fms calculates your descent.

That's funny, my Champ will only do about 300' per minute. Gotta love those 65 ponies!

 

[Capt. Caucasian]

That's funny, my Champ will only do about 300' per minute. Gotta love those 65 ponies!

Yeah, but your Champ is a heck of a lot more fun to fly!

 

[Mr Hat]

Thank you for pointing out that radar flying in a jet is different from radar flying in a turboprop down at low altitude. Prehaps thats what I've been doing wrong ALL this time. I can't wait to tell the other inexperienced jet pilots at my company the news! GUYS WE'VE JUST BEEN USING IT WRONG THE WHOLE TIME! HAHAHA! I am happy that there are guys with such extensive jet experience around here, thats why I come around. So I can LEARN about flying from the experts on the internet.

 

[C-12Bubba]

Thanks for all the responses, sounds like the XR is a winner!

Anything to say about the avionics?

Do you talk to dispatch via datalink or anything (ExpressJet
guys)? I saw something about that in their annual report.

 

[Freddie Spencer]

ie. at FL370, you may be looking at a storm at 100 mi at -1 to +1 deg of tilt (depending on what you are looking for); start a descent at 4-5 deg nose down and the RADAR picture gets really bad.

... just like the radar in a Airbus/Boeing unless you change the TILT!!!

 

[PadFull'oTrim]

How the he!! did you get a picture of my Mom? Looking at it makes me thirsty.

 

[Spellcheck]

Antenna Stabilization

quote:
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ie. at FL370, you may be looking at a storm at 100 mi at -1 to +1 deg of tilt (depending on what you are looking for); start a descent at 4-5 deg nose down and the RADAR picture gets really bad.
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quote:
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... just like the radar in a Airbus/Boeing unless you change the TILT!!!
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It would seem to me that if the radar stabilization system is working properly, the beam tilt would remain relatively constant with respect to the horizon, regardless of the pitch attitude of the aircraft (up to the gimbal limits of the antenna).

Of course, tilt will need to be adjusted after a significant change in altitude due to the change in geometry between the antenna, the weather and the ground. But the picture should not change significantly with a change in pitch attitude.

Is this not the case in the Airbus?

On a related note, I’ve noticed that both the Capt and F/O can select different tilts for each sweep of the antenna. How do most of you ERJ drivers like to run your radar in this regard? Do you keep the other pilot’s unit in STBY or do you prefer the change in picture with each sweep?

Do many CRJ pilots have any radar complaints? Is there a significant difference in the size of the CRJ and ERJ antenna, or does the ERJ have some sort of R/T, or display problems that cause a sub-standard “picture”?

Regards,
Spellcheck