Dials or Glass? Your Preference?

[FearlessFreep]

Glass cockpit - sure I fly lots of aicraft with glass installed. Mostly there are numerous small circular pieces of glass festooned all over the cockpit!

 

[Purple Haze]

I voted for glass, but for hand flying I think I prefer steam. My instrument crosscheck was better with round dials than with digital displays. Also, glass tends to suck you in to going head-down and programming when you most need to be head-up and flying.

BUT- for knowing exactly where you are, to visualize your options, and for long legs, glass is sweetness. As an older lazy guy, I would like to go back to glass (but any window seat will do ).

 

[General Lee]

When I started at Delta I "flew" the panel of a 727, which was the worst pilot job at the airline. I felt like "Radar O'Reiley" from MASH trying to reach "Sparky" on his phone when I had to click on the generator breakers after trying to sync the light bulb flashes. Then I moved on to the 737-200 at Delta Express and had to ask for vectors enroute because the "Vor/LOC" button on the mode control panel wasn't very accurate and caused s-turning on the airways. Then off to the 737-800---which was all glass and had great terrain mapping, and then to the current 757/767 which isn't as advanced as the 738, but still nice. I like the glass better.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[typhoonpilot]

Geez, this is a tough crowd. The answer to the question,

If the 777 had steam guages would you hand fly it more often?

is probably, but that isn't the real reason. It tends to be cultural. By that, I mean different airlines have different cultures and even different fleets within the airline have different cultures. When I first joined USAir in 1989 on the DC-9 it was the culture to hand fly up to and down from FL180. Later at another outfit we made it the culture to hand fly up to and down from cruise. When I went back to USAirways on the 737-300/400 it seemed the culture was to get the autopilot on pretty quickly after takeoff and not disconnect until landing was assured. I didn't really like that so I rebelled a little. The Captains were somewhat lazy and they hated someone asking them to change things on the flight guidance panel while I hand flew the airplane. That is a general statement of course, as some didn't mind too much. At my current airline the culture is much like the USAirways 737-300/400 culture where it is very rare to see someone hand fly much over 1000 feet after takeoff or disconnect much above 1000 feet on landing.

FMS and glass do tend to detract from hand flying because pilots are either enthralled with all the information inside or too busy programming the box to disconnect and hand fly.

I haven't had the opportunity to fly the DC-10 or the MD-11, but the pilots I know who have really love the airplane. I'm betting they handle much better than the 777 as McDonnell Douglas really knew how to make an airplane that pilots liked.


Typhoonpilot

 

[General Lee]

Typhoonpilot,

Most of the MD-11 guys I have talked to at Delta (a dying breed---most will be parked by JAN), say they disliked the MD-11. Apparently it doesn't handle very well because fuel is shifting between tanks and through the tail, causing weird pitch problems. I am sure some FEDEX guys will disagree, but most of the MD-11 guys at Delta bid it or stayed on it for the money. I am sure there are some out there that actually liked it, but most I asked did not.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Ty Webb]

Well, as usual, I am going to go out on my own here, and say "Give me the round dials, Baby!" with the caveat that I'd keep the NAV display.

Steam for flying, Glass for NAV'ing. That would be great for me.

 

[MLBWINGBORN]

Glass every time..

Many times having a glass display has allowed me to avoid situations that would have been missed in a steam cockpit..

ATC puts somebody in front of you on the approach and you see him slow down all of a sudden..Much easier to keep spacing..

Mike

 

[TWA Dude]

Transitioning from the DC9 to the 717 was the ultimate in culture shock. (I still can't believe it was only differences training.) In any case, getting used to the EFIS was no problem except for one thing: Altimeter. I always wished for a round altimeter so I could see my level-off altitude coming rather than having to mentally compute it.

Ironically the J41 EFIS has a tape ASI and VSI but a round altimeter. Sometimes you get what you ask for in the strangest places.

Dude

 

[GoABX]

DIAL for driving & for mins ILS

GLASS for going direct (CAT II: anticipatory algorithms do not interface well with my grey matter circuitry.)

 

[Gulfstream 200]

all glass is best. automation wins in terms efficiency and safety, hands down. Just be sure you know how to manage it!

I do agree that the stick skills can erode quick, but nothing wrong with clicking it off and flying it to altitude every once in a while.....

 

[skirt]

Having flown all round dials (727), half round dials (737-300), full glass 777 and now 320, I find the round dials the most fun, but I prefer the SA and capabilities of glass.

I agree the downside of glass is a loss of scan, but that is not really the glass's fault. When I was flying the 737 it was easy to turn it into "round dials" and hand fly, thus keeping my scan from getting too rusty. I even hand flew the 777 quite often, though not very often (if ever) in raw data mode only (okay, I like the map too much). My personal opinion is that the safest combination is a glass airplane with a pilot who keeps his scan up, so that in the rare instances when a scan is truely needed, he can do it well. Meanwhile having the SA and capabilities of the glass for most flying.

Now I'm on the bus at JetBlue and fresh out of the sim where it was always "gear up autopilot on" so I don't have a clue how it is to hand fly on the line in an Airbus, or even if guys do that very much. Right now I am still trying to flush many, many years of Boeing from my brain, so Airbus magic is still what I need practice with.

Skirt

 

[T-Gates]

Glass is great for Instant Situational awareness. I love turning off the FD and Autopilot and hand flying sometimes, but some days it's 600 Feet, Autopilot on!

 

[100-1/2]

I prefer glass on my "dial" type instruments. the plastic gets faded, fogged and broken. Then it is sooo, hard to dust that little airplane and all those little needles and numbers. And they are sharp, too. Ouch... I love band-aides 'cause band-aides are stuck on me, yeah!

100-1/2

p.s. - Hey, I hear the newest ERJ-MFD's have an input for Satellite Internet and come with a Windows interface so that you can punch the little logo button and instantly switch between porn and the aircraft systems. Is the audio available over the intercom? Oh, those brazilian's thought of everything. I wish they had the heated and vibrating seats though, for the longer trips.

 

[Flyingtoohigh]

I wish they had the heated and vibrating seats though, for the longer trips.

I can understand the heat, but the vibration? We can just install a pair of turboprop engines for that.

 

[sleeves]

I currently fly the 777 and it is a great airplane but my hand flying skills are eroding and that, to me, is the biggest danger of glass.


Typhoonpilot

Just think of the regional guy who hired on at 500 hours and now pushes buttons in an all glass cockpit with all the automation. You may feel your skills are eroding but he probably will never build his up to the point you are at now.