BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
So basically, because several operators decided to take off with out first deicing the airframe AND neglected to use wing ice when the conditions required it AND rotated somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 degrees per second (3 is the recommended) we now get new ice procedures.BOMBARDIER HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE AIRPLANE
FLIGHT MANUAL. THIS IS BOMBARDIER’S RESPONSE TO ISSUES
WITH THE AIRCRAFT. THE TWO PRIMARY ISSUES ARE ACCIDENTS
AND INCIDENTS ON CL-65 AIRCRAFT AS A RESULT OF AIRFRAME
ICING AND FLAP FAILURES. DUE TO THESE CHANGES WE AT *****
ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE CHANGES IN THE WAY WE OPERATE THE
AIRCRAFT. WE HAVE ADDRESSED THESE CHANGES WITH TWO POH
BULLETINS. BULLETIN 09-08 ADDRESSES THE ISSUES OF AIRFRAME
ICING AND IS VALID FOR BOTH AIRCRAFT. THE ICING CHANGES
HAVE ALSO BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE 2008-2009 ANNUAL
DE-ICE TEST. BULLETIN 10-08 ADDS A NEW SPEED DEVELOPED BY
BOMBARDIER TO ADDRESS THE FLAP FAILURES IN THE CRJ-200.
THE SPEED IS VFO. THIS IS THE MAXIMUM SPEED THAT YOU CAN
EXTEND THE FLAPS. WHEN SELECTING FROM FLAPS 0 TO FLAPS 8
THE MAX SPEED IS 200 KIAS. WHEN SELECTING FROM FLAPS 8 TO
FLAPS 20 THE MAX SPEED IS 200 KIAS. THIS IS ONLY FOR THE
CRJ-200.
But it gets better. Because Bombardier used a cheap component in the flexshaft that drives the flaps we now are speed restricted 30 knots below the max operating speed of the flaps. The problem of course is the spoiler panels on the wings are so damn small that they really don't do much more than make some noise and are completely ineffective at slowing the plane down. Dumping the flaps to 8 degrees at 220 was the quickest way to start getting slowed down. But now instead of fixing the problem (with the flex shaft) Bombardier is putting a bandaid on it by creating this Vfo which is the max airspeed during flap movement and limits us to 200 knots.
GRRR.