Does Size Really Matter?

[jumppilot03]

Just wandering about the size and comfort of the cockpits that

you normally fly in. I know that the 737NG is pitifully small and

have heard that the A320 is roomy, what about you corporate

and regional guys, how do you size up?

 

[Medivacer]

Hey, what ever she tells you right?


I've been in alot of pit's and I can tell you the 67' is fraily roomy, the 47 is tiny, the C5 you can walk on either side of the seats. All the Lear's and Ciatation's I've been in are smaller than my ego, and the Challenger series/CRJ's are a fair size, but not too big.

 

[jumppilot03]

flacon size

Does anyone have comments on the size of the Westwind or

Falcon cockpits, good, bad, tiny?

 

[LXApilot]

Size Matters?

Well... having been in a number of corporate and airliner cockpits, I can tell you that from my personal perspective... The Citation cockpit, although cramped, is fairly comfortable... the Falcons are fairly comfortable as well, with a little more elbow room. The Sabreliner has a pretty roomy cockpit, and so does the Challenger. The Gulfstream cockpits I have been in were a little cramped, and the LearJet is nearly impossible to get yourself into. The Beech and Diamond Jets are in-betweens and the Westwind cockpit is fairly cramped, but it's got some room once you are in and situated. As far as some of the bigger stuff goes, the CRJ looks a little more roomy but is fairly cramped with two big guys in there and the cockpit door is RIGHT behind your position, same with the jetstream and b1900 cockpits. The DC9 and MD80s are terribly small. A320/A319 have the same size cockpit, and it's fairly roomy with a lot of space, it's a great ergonomical design and is pilot friendly. Same for the 737-700. The 737-200 is a little small, but gives you some room once you are sat down and ready to go. All of the 747 I have been in were pretty tight fits unless you were riding in the jumpseat, and the 757 and 767 have a pretty good amount of room. Especially the 757. But the best cockpit design in the world for comfort and space was the McDonnell Douglas DC10. It offered plenty of room with a lot of space between elbows. The flight deck visibility was out of this world, and although it had 3 crew members on the flight deck, still had plenty of leg room for 2 cockpit jumpseats. The best cockpit jumpseat of any airliner, ever was the DC10 cockpit jumpseat just aft and to the left of the Captain's side. It had plenty of room and offered an outstanding view.

 

[Deftone45075]

The Lear 25/35 are very small, and you get a workout trying to get in and seated. The J31 is a little tricky to get into but comfortable enough for the short fligts you do in them. A lot of small jets seem pretty comfortable, but may require some sretching to get seated.

Getting in the cockpit is one thing. Afterwards, is anoter.

 

[PennEagle]

Falcon 10 is'nt too shabby... feels like you're in a fighter. Good to see I'm not the only one who makes the Flacon, er I mean Falcon, typing error.

 

[LearLove]

The Dash cockpit is huge by most standards. lots of room especially side to side. Big windows though like a fish bowl can really heat up in the summer. Plenty of room on each pilot side for flightbag and more. Jumpseat is width of door. More room than the RJ. With the door closed I can stand behind the center consol and do so limited streatches on some of our longer flights or 8 leg days w/ 15 min turns. Also plenty of panel/dash space to put feet up.

 

[jumppilot03]

Any Saab flyers out there? How is the comfort in your cockpit?

What about the ERJ's? And just curious about the Shorts line 330

and 360? big, small?

 

[sydeseet]

You could hold a small party in a 727 cockpit. An old engineer trick is to turn the seat sideways, sit on the aft jumpseat, prop some pillows around you, put your feet up on the engineer seat and get a fairly decent nap in (since there isn't much to do in cruise.) I've just heard of this mind you.......

The lear jet "cockpit" (spelled coat closet) is about as bad as it gets. I can tell from my sore back and tight hamstrings that I'm due for a day off.

The Citation is actually pretty comfortable for an aircraft of it's size. The seats could be a little better but you can stretch your legs out and have some room to yourself.

I think the most comfortable seat of them all it something aft of the galley on a BBJ or GV, but who wants to sit there?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[saabcaptain]

The J31 was a nightmare of a tiny cockpit with the only room for a flight bag (1 the captains... the fo had no room) was between the seats. The Saab 340 I fly now is very roomy for the 2 pilots with plentiful space for bags on each side, elbow room, and a great (but hot in summer) view. The jumpseat is pretty small with little legroom however.

 

[DoinTime]

I thought the Saab was pretty roomy (especially headroom), had good visibility, and everything was within an arms reach. However, the poor air conditioning and thinly padded, narrow seats detracted from the long range comfort. The CRJ is more comfortable in regard to the seat and air conditioning but is rather cramped with bag storage and head room. I have to lower my seat all the way to the bottom to avoid hitting my head on the ceiling. Its a good thing it doesn't have leading edge devices. I need the negative deck angle on approach just to see the runway.

 

[mckpickle]

The ERJ cockpit sucks! My back hasnt been the same since. And I think we have something like 5 guys out with ruptured discs because they picked up their flight bags wrong. Your flight bag sits at your 7 o'clock pos and is dificult to get to. The jumpseat...... wel lets just say it motivates the FAA to ride in the back.

 

[nimtz]

Ditto on the ERJ cockpit! It is too cramped and noisy up there when you compare it to the CRJ. Plus on the older models they put this stupid siding on where your supposed to put you flight bag. Problem is that most flight bags won't fit into the available space because of the stupid siding, which has f*cked my flight bag up pretty good over the years.
The Shorts has a kick arse cockpit for a commuter. It's like a wide body in that each pilot has a seperate door for entry. Plus you can walk right into your seat rather then squeeze into it like on the ERJ. There was also good windows and visibilty as well if memory serves.

 

[DC10]

I agree with LXAPilot in that the DC10 has the roomiest cockpit. Very large, very comfortable (electrically controlled seats), loads of room and huge windows for great visibility. The plane is truly a delight to fly from a pilot's perspective.

The 717 I'm now flying is tiny by comparison, but ergonomically very well designed and fits like a glove.

 

[WrightAvia]

ERJ sounds like Early Retirement Jet?

Ergonomics...what a concept?

Now that guys will be spending many years behind the wheel of some of these smaller jets...maybe it is time that someone speaks out on the cockpit situation in regards to ergonomics. Especially before the next generation of these RJ's comes to the market place.

Back problems can usually be avoided by participating in physical fitness programs and proper lifting techniques.

 

[LR25]

Dash 8, I'm 6 ft tall, I can slide the seat back cross my legs and read the paper, opps, I meant look a high enroute charts.

The Lear, it takes a few months to know how to get in without tearing switches off the middle console. After 2 hours, I'm ready to get out, lucky for me it was a 20 series most of the time.

 

[46Driver]

The Dornier 328 has a nice, roomy cockpit - but then again, compared to a CH-46E the Wright Flyer would be an improvement

 

[Fast8945]

Out of the few that I have been in, Corporate wise, we crammed about 6 -15-18 year olds- in the Challengers 604 cockpit. The most spacious cockpit airliner that I have been in has to be the 777. That is my two cents.

 

[griffith30@mchs]

Why I went from the L1011 to the 737-800NG I'll never know! The L10 has enough room for a party.You can walk into the flight deck standing up(WITH)your hat on,and I'm 6'2''.The 737 is tiny by comparison.There isn't enough room to place a Jepp bag alongside your seat so I use a modified computer bag.I've been in the 757 and it is much roomier than the 73.The jumpseat on the L10 has to be one of the best seats of any airliner.

 

[bigsky]

I have to respectfully disagree with " doin time" : I am a former Saab Driver and loved the plane! From the pilots point of view I thought it was well layed out however when someone was on the jumpseat it was anything but roomy!

Probably one thing better than DC-10/ L1011 is the MD-11 with only a 2 man crew and the bunk available! I have always been impressed with the Airbus A320- Lots of space in the jumpseat -especially for a narrow body aircraft.

DC10<< Didnt you use to be at Gemeni? I assume by your profile its Airtran now.