Question for Dornier Drivers

[DairyAir]

dorknob

I personally like the moniker "DOORKNOB" Folks might make fun of us but if the Dork paid as much as the jets I would stay in it. Well maybe not, it does have some issues. Ours don't have APU's so they are hot in the summer and cold in the winter. They break alot and the seats in the cockpit leave something to be desired for us skinny folks. Other than that I love it. The fastest I have seen is 336 KTAS at FL230 with an average load. My favorite thing about is that we can go 250 knots a mile inside the outer marker and still slow down to be configured by about a thousand AGL. Lets see a 757 do that. Yea he blows us away everywhere else but you always have to look on the bright side of life. I also like the wide cockpit, someone said it is wider than the DC-9, don't know if it is true. Alot of contollers mistake us for the BAC JET (146).

 

[EagleRJ]

Another nickname for the EMB is the Rickety Rocket. It's fast, but the construction is pretty flimsy. Our maintenance department called it Every Mechanic's Bane.
The Saab 340 came to be called the Saabomatic when it first came out, since it was the first heavily automated regional airliner. It's name also stood for Send Another Aircraft Behind. It had its share of teething problems!

 

[XJAVRO]

The CRJ blows our doors off! We cruise at 300kts or .73, but we get payed by the hour, so I don't need to go fast. All the other RJs are little things, were about the size of a 737-200. The chubby jet is also built like a tank.

 

[Diesel8]

The Dornier 328 (328 TAS), Doorknob, Dork, Dorkknob, very nice plane. I enjoyed flying it. I'm in the CRJ now, and would have to say that I prefer the Honeywell Primus 2000 avionics over the Rockwell Collins avionics suite that is in the CRJ. I also think the ERJ has a better avionics package. In the Dornier, we used the VNAV function quite a bit on line, where in the CRJ the only VNAV we have is a "snowflake" that aids us in descent to meet crossing restrictions. With the honeywell we could just hit "direct" on the FMS on the altitude side of the CDU and the plane would autimatically begin a descent at the glideslpe angle that was programmed in. I got in a "FJ" one time, and the only difference I saw between the two Dorniers was that the "prop overspeed" switches and prop control panel on the overhead was missing on the jet (no surprise there) and of course there were no condition levers. I heard that structually the only real difference is that the jet has beefed up brakes since it has no thrust reverse. Doesn't it also have some sort of spoilers too?

 

[StaySeated]

Spoilers

Yep, the dorkjet has groundspoilers to increase the effectiveness of the brakes and roll spoilers to increase the effectiveness of the ailerons. Heard a rumor that the roll spoilers were going to become inflight speed brakes but never happened. Insert your joke here about a .66 airplane needing speedbrakes. I think we just got passed by another C-525, or was it a flock of geese? I second the comment about the seats, rock hard even with a fat arse like mine.

 

[Rotorhead]

StaySeated,
At Skyway do all of your takeoffs involve TOGA power or do you have a reduced thrust program?

 

[StaySeated]

Always TOGA.

We have data for reduced power, and you know it is easy to set the power bugs, yet we always push em to the stops and let the fadec worry about everything else. Kind of dumb, imho.

 

[328dude]

I third the seat. I usually use the backing for the jumpseat as a cusion. Some of em stick though.
I atually found out that some of our dork props (three) actually have spoilers up there but are disconnected. I guess we really don't need them. I'm wondering about the Dorkjet though, do you guys have problems with your brakes getting to hot? Seems to happen alot for us even without getting on them that hard. I think you guys have steel brakes right?
Dimension wise, the dork is bigger inside the cockpit then the DC-9. (actually got bored and looked it up).

I can't amagine going from the Dork to the CRJ. I jumpseated on Comair a few times, and I don't know what I would do without that descent green dashed arch. LOL Nothing against the CRJ.

So in theory, if the Dorkjet is nothing more then a Dorkprop frame with jets, then I take it our Vne of 270 is a prop limitation right?
Just curious.

These new airplanes we are gtting from Air Whisky are said to be coming without APU's. Your right my friend, things are going to suck this winter and summer.

 

[Rotorhead]

Carbon brakes on the jet, have never seen anything more than a temp trend CAS, always gone by the time I get to the gate. The airplane is very easy to stop in a very calm manner, reverse thrust is unnecessary on this airplane. Vmo on the jet is 270k to 8000'(FAR limited) then 300k till Mmo of .66 is reached.

 

[TedCFII]

Another nickname for the EMB is the Rickety Rocket. It's fast, but the construction is pretty flimsy. Our maintenance department called it Every Mechanic's Bane.
The Saab 340 came to be called the Saabomatic when it first came out, since it was the first heavily automated regional airliner. It's name also stood for Send Another Aircraft Behind. It had its share of teething problems!

I always thought SAAB stood for... "Somethings Almost Always Broken"