Flying Embraer's

[Polar742]

Any tprop that's over powered, has EFIS and more fins than a Buffett concert isn't a "real" turboprop.

Talk about a plane that has switches scattered about the cockpit with no forsight, poor handling qualities, is barely /A and has underpowered Garrett TPE331s or Rolls-Royce Darts (the engine that will start or blow up), and we'll talk.

 

[chrisdahut1]

The ERJ was my first jet....I loved it! While some might rag on it for having no autothrottle/VNAV etc... I thought it was the plane with the best of both worlds. Lots of Glass and a crap load of automation, but still required some ability to actually fly an airplane (ie- no speed mode/autothrottle at ALT CAP, and descent planning was all in your head...sorry; no VNAV PATH or V/S banana).

The yoke looks odd, but surprisngly I found it very ergonomic. Like a previous poster mentioned, it can be a little tricky to use in cross winds. Especially if you're sitting right seat and have a left crosswind....I usually had to hold the yoke at it's tip and push up. A little akward, but otherwise a great design. Note that the Concorde has the same type yoke!

As for the EP....I'm surprised that awful atrocity has gotten any kind of positive (or even neutral) press. I hated it. No thrust reversers. A ridiculously low MZFW, which I'm sure lead to CHQ removing the Galley carts to prevent it from going even lower. If I'm not mistaken, it also had the 9200lb fuel tanks (as opposed to the 11434lb tanks on the ER). It was a 50 seat RJ that, at best, could maybe carry 46 people and the luggage that came with them. This was always problematic, seeing as UAL always oversold the EP flight from SDF-ORD.

I guess it made money though...either that, or the lease was almost nothing. Last I heard, CHQ still had the bloody things....despite parking a few much worthier ER 50 seaters.

 

[USMC-SSGT]

Any tprop that's over powered, has EFIS and more fins than a Buffett concert isn't a "real" turboprop.

Talk about a plane that has switches scattered about the cockpit with no forsight, poor handling qualities, is barely /A and has underpowered Garrett TPE331s or Rolls-Royce Darts (the engine that will start or blow up), and we'll talk.

I know....im just trying to validate my manliness. I feel small because of the prop I fly and try to compensate.

Kind of like a man who is 5'2" and drives a diesel dually on swamper 44"s...all about compensating.

 

[Polar742]

I know....im just trying to validate my manliness. I feel small because of the prop I fly and try to compensate.

Kind of like a man who is 5'2" and drives a diesel dually on swamper 44"s...all about compensating.

To be completely honest, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a very comfortable office with AC on the ground and a LAV.

I think the "good old days" weren't all that great, or we'd still be rolling in that equipment....

 

[dasleben]

The ERJ was my first jet....I loved it! While some might rag on it for having no autothrottle/VNAV etc... I thought it was the plane with the best of both worlds. Lots of Glass and a crap load of automation, but still required some ability to actually fly an airplane (ie- no speed mode/autothrottle at ALT CAP, and descent planning was all in your head...sorry; no VNAV PATH or V/S banana).

The yoke looks odd, but surprisngly I found it very ergonomic. Like a previous poster mentioned, it can be a little tricky to use in cross winds. Especially if you're sitting right seat and have a left crosswind....I usually had to hold the yoke at it's tip and push up. A little akward, but otherwise a great design. Note that the Concorde has the same type yoke!

As for the EP....I'm surprised that awful atrocity has gotten any kind of positive (or even neutral) press. I hated it. No thrust reversers. A ridiculously low MZFW, which I'm sure lead to CHQ removing the Galley carts to prevent it from going even lower. If I'm not mistaken, it also had the 9200lb fuel tanks (as opposed to the 11434lb tanks on the ER). It was a 50 seat RJ that, at best, could maybe carry 46 people and the luggage that came with them. This was always problematic, seeing as UAL always oversold the EP flight from SDF-ORD.

I guess it made money though...either that, or the lease was almost nothing. Last I heard, CHQ still had the bloody things....despite parking a few much worthier ER 50 seaters.

To be fair, I didn't mean to sound like I was ragging on it. It's a good bird; I really enjoyed the XR especially. I've seen 2000fpm all the way up to FL370 in that thing.

I just thought it was funny that you could get the "Chinese glideslope" with no way to do anything with it outside trying to follow it in V/S mode. I don't know how you did it at CHQ, but most of us at XJT would simply work out a 3:1 descent and fly that. Of course that ended up being a descent done above idle, so you're just sitting there wasting fuel. That especially started annoying me in the months leading up to the furlough (a few hundred pounds of fuel saved on each flight could have saved my job!).

Seems like a lot of regionals are working on razor thin profit margins (or trying to dig themselves out of quarterly losses like XJT is), but everyone is descending above idle thrust because the company won't invest in the upgrade to put in a little extra automation in the form of, say, VNAV. I bet that fuel savings would really add up.

Oh well, doesn't matter. I don't even work there anymore.

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

You couldn't program a TOD point into your FMS?

 

[cmhumphr]

A good buddy of mine flew for Trans States back in 2007 or so. He said on the flare, a lot of guys would let the nose wheel smack on the runway so he said it required a lot of trim after the mains touched. I personally love the ERJ series. Never flown one, but someday I will. I love the sound of those AE3007's spooling up on takeoff roll.

 

[Nick]

A good buddy of mine flew for Trans States back in 2007 or so. He said on the flare, a lot of guys would let the nose wheel smack on the runway so he said it required a lot of trim after the mains touched. I personally love the ERJ series. Never flown one, but someday I will. I love the sound of those AE3007's spooling up on takeoff roll.

Trim isn't even enough. You have to pull the yoke almost all the way back so that the nosewheel lands smoothly.

 

[Alchemy]

Seems like a lot of regionals are working on razor thin profit margins (or trying to dig themselves out of quarterly losses like XJT is), but everyone is descending above idle thrust because the company won't invest in the upgrade to put in a little extra automation in the form of, say, VNAV.

.......or because they aren't paying for the fuel in the first place.

Disclaimer: Yes I try to do at least 3.5 degree descents when possible, closer to 4 if winds permit. I occasionally get some remarks "trying to fly fancy there aren't ya?" or "cuttin it close there aren't ya"? "you're hurtin my earz with that 650 fpm cabin rate!" Kinda sad.

 

[dasleben]

.......or because they aren't paying for the fuel in the first place.

This is true. Still didn't ease the sting at the time, though. Basically, the waste of money was us, even though I saw plenty of waste on the line everyday that wasn't being addressed.

Disclaimer: Yes I try to do at least 3.5 degree descents when possible, closer to 4 if winds permit. I occasionally get some remarks "trying to fly fancy there aren't ya?" or "cuttin it close there aren't ya"? "you're hurtin my earz with that 650 fpm cabin rate!" Kinda sad.

Probably the same guys who'd get up in arms when I'd turn off the autopilot AND flight director on a visual. Scaaaaary!

 

[jtrain609]

When I was doing IOE, we were in the downwind at some smaller (probably Class C) airport. The controller asks us to make a short approach, to which the skipper says a-ok. So what do I do? I click off all the automation, pop the boards and the gear, and start my turn in while heading downhill. The check airman was like, "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?" I told him I was turning off the automation and flying the plane. His response? "Ahhh....yeah don't do that next time, we don't do that here."

 

[Alchemy]

When I was doing IOE, we were in the downwind at some smaller (probably Class C) airport. The controller asks us to make a short approach, to which the skipper says a-ok. So what do I do? I click off all the automation, pop the boards and the gear, and start my turn in while heading downhill. The check airman was like, "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?" I told him I was turning off the automation and flying the plane. His response? "Ahhh....yeah don't do that next time, we don't do that here."

Dood. Don't you know you can't turn before the marker? 10 mile final, minimum. Also you must be configured and slowed to Vapp by 2500 AGL, anything else is just poor form, good sir. That's not the way we do it down in IAH. You need a 25 mile downwind then 210 to MKAYE 190 to GRIEG 170 to JEPNI then "FINAL MONITOR REDUCE TO FINAL APPROACH SPEED". That's how it's properly done.

 

[SteveC]

When I was doing IOE, we were in the downwind at some smaller (probably Class C) airport. The controller asks us to make a short approach, to which the skipper says a-ok. So what do I do? I click off all the automation, pop the boards and the gear, and start my turn in while heading downhill. The check airman was like, "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?" I told him I was turning off the automation and flying the plane. His response? "Ahhh....yeah don't do that next time, we don't do that here."

What is SOP there? Fully configured and stabilized by 1000 AGL? Something like that?

 

[Polar742]

When I was doing IOE, we were in the downwind at some smaller (probably Class C) airport. The controller asks us to make a short approach, to which the skipper says a-ok. So what do I do? I click off all the automation, pop the boards and the gear, and start my turn in while heading downhill. The check airman was like, "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?" I told him I was turning off the automation and flying the plane. His response? "Ahhh....yeah don't do that next time, we don't do that here."

Did you throw out the gear yourself after you turned off the autopilot?

 

[C150J]

What is SOP there? Fully configured and stabilized by 1000 AGL? Something like that?

Ours (different regional) is fully CONFIGURED by 1,000 AFE and stabilized by 500' AFE on visuals, which seems to agree with the FSF's definition.

 

[Bandit_Driver]

I flew the E-170 a few years back and from what I remember it flew quite well and climbed well too. The automation and autothrottle will make any pilot lazy as it did just about everything for you. The rams horn yolk is very easy to get used to and comfortable. It just looks odd. The company preferred us to use the autopilots as the is gave the passengers a better rides.

Most of us flew it by hand to 10K or 18K and then turned it on unless it was a high workload area or the SID/STAR required it's use..e.g some DFW departures require the use of the autopilot.

 

[falconvalley]

When I was doing IOE, we were in the downwind at some smaller (probably Class C) airport. The controller asks us to make a short approach, to which the skipper says a-ok. So what do I do? I click off all the automation, pop the boards and the gear, and start my turn in while heading downhill. The check airman was like, "Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?" I told him I was turning off the automation and flying the plane. His response? "Ahhh....yeah don't do that next time, we don't do that here."

Same thing for me going into CLE last night. We were at 7 on downwind and got slam dunked, so I called for gear down threw out speed brakes. Was turning about halfway inside the marker and the capt is like "You do know you're inside the marker, right?" I was like "yeah..." I knew for sure it could be smooth and stable. It must be a freight dog thing

 

[Nick]

Same thing for me going into CLE last night. We were at 7 on downwind and got slam dunked, so I called for gear down threw out speed brakes. Was turning about halfway inside the marker and the capt is like "You do know you're inside the marker, right?" I was like "yeah..." I knew for sure it could be smooth and stable. It must be a freight dog thing

Not to mention the 'marker' is merely the last of the fixes because it can be, what, anywhere from 4 to 9 miles from the threshold? That is a huge range! 250 to the marker that is 9 miles out vs. 4 is drastically going to effect the plan!

I hate flying with drones who have learned nothing about the capabilities of their airplane after thousands of hours in it.

 

[Nick]

And get your freakin' hand away from the flap handle...I'll call for them when I call for them!

 

[jtrain609]

Did you throw out the gear yourself after you turned off the autopilot?

Nope.