NTSB Board Meeting for Pinnacle 3701

[xjgearbtch]

I dunno. I must be dumb. But I use speed mode to climb all the way unless I need a particular VS to make a crossing. What I see is people not keeping the N1s in the carrot and as the N1 speed drops off the climb rate will diminish. The crews long inattention then leaves the plane climbing very slowly so they jam the N1 back up to the carrot which gives an acceleration and the plane pitches up to maintain speed. THAT's why you are getting your pitch excursions in Speed mode not that it can't handle it.

Or, at least that's what I've learned over my 6 years as CA on the CRJ. But, each pilot has to fly it the way they want and as long as the way they want to fly it gets the job done on profile and doesn't stall it I don't care.

I should have specified a bit more. With the autopilot engaged in speed mode it pitches too much and the ROC varies too much. Up front you don't notice it as much as the guys in the back. (IE their stomach sinking into the seat) If the power is set correct it still doesn't give a good ride in speed mode.

Then again I work for red tail, why the hell do I care about passenger comfort?

 

[SLUF4]

I remember when going through IOE the instructors all said to use pitch mode above 10,000 set at 2.5 degrees if I remember correctly. They said it would never run out of airspeed at that pitch. But as for myself I normally use VS above 10,000 and am not shy about putting it on 500FPM and leaving it. I monitor my airspeed closely and have never had a problem. I think it's more of a problem with them not monitoring the speed instead of what mode the autopilot was in. You always have to monitor what the aircraft is doing no matter what mode the AFCS is in.