Flying the CRJ-200...tell me about it please....

Table Two said:
Thrust reversers rarely kick in until you are already slow, and only make a lot of noise.

Nose heavy (avionics placement) requires you to tell the cranky flight attendant they need to move pax back a few rows, usually every flight one or two people.

ACARS is helpful for many things, including getting jr manned by crew scheduling while in flight.

So, it is possible to hack the ACARS ? ;)
Click to expand...
 
I'm tired of people saying the -200 won't slow down and go down at the same time. I don't know what plane y'all have been flying but above 10K, you idle the thrust and it becomes a brick. I fly with so many people who get freaked out over crossing restrictions and flying the book recommended 3.0 degree slope. Idle it and watch it do 4K FPM all while slowing down. The kicker is not to be at 335 when you want to do an idle 4k decent. If you are running Econ speeds, it really falls behind the curve quick and turns into a brick.

Other stuff about the plane...some have brakes that when you step on them they sound like a pregnant elephant giving birth.

Some when you throw the gear out the cockpit bounces uncontrollably...some are very smooth

The older seat ones suck to sit in, but generally have a lighter better feel to me flying

The airplane is one giant A.D. There is an AD on practically every part of the plane for something or other

For an airplane made in Canada...it sure hates the cold. A cold soaked RJ is a strange RJ. You will see more problems than you can imagine on cold mornings...just let it warm up and 9 out of 10 times it will clear itself

You will hear "Try powering down the plane, then back up again and see if that clears it..." more than you will ever want to.

Never let the fuel get imbalanced...it is a disaster getting it back in balance.

You will feel a thump and a bang on occasion that will freak you out...it is nose wheel repressurizing in the uplocks. You will learn to ignore it

You will hate the old style keypads on the fms...
 
It's been a while but some things I remember:

1. Pitch is pretty natural but roll is a little different if you're coming from anything with cables. If you turn it too quick it will dump the wing, you'll see it in a gusty crosswind landing when a good gust hits you. Learn to be smooth to be fast.
2. Unlike what you'll learn in the sim at AWAC, do not spin the bug from 200 to 250 while in speed mode down low. Use either VS or Turb. Your pax will thank you.
3. With a good tailwind you'll float for a while if you don't get power off around 50ft, but do that with a good headwind and your going to be hurting.
4. Climb performance has already been talked about.
5. Landing gear is very forgiving.

That's all I can think of right now, honestly the only thing that might be tough for you on the first couple trips is getting used to the quick turns.
 
Oh yeah, you'll see a lot (probably most) guys technique for takeoff is to pull a little to get the nose up, then letting the plane fly off the ground before continuing to pull. You'll notice a good clunk from the gear with this technique. I found if you are deliberate with the rotation, closer to the standard 3°/sec, it's much smoother and there is no sound from the gear.
 
We were never trained how to use the ACARS at Mesa on the Dash-8 (we used the CAE Dash-8-100 simulators in Vancouver) so whenever a message saying to call crew scheduling came in we just pretended not to know how the box worked. The only hacking of ACARS that went on is that you could unset the GPS clock, then manually set the time before you closed the door so that you had an "on-time" departure. For some reason United frowned on this and the few people who were doing it (all company men) had to stop.
 
I have about 2,500 miserable hours in the 50 seater in the US and around the world, so excuse my loathing sarcasm for Barbie. (700/900 mostly excused)

The APU: It's a piece of crap, unless it's -10 and snowing. Then it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Generally, the APU and bleed air system sucks. If you love to sweat, this is your plane. For passengers who love to sweat and have cold feet at the same time (seriously Bombardier, hot air rises, right?), strained necks and having the living crap scared out of them every time the gear is lowered - it's the perfect plane too.

The wing anti ice comes on eventually, usually once the ice annunciation is gone..unless it's summer and you're in turbulence/CB's. In that case, it'll fire right up along with the cowls and keep you climbing at a brisk 200'/minute. W/C anti-ice is also a great joy when descending below 10,000 in icing conditions with a speed restriction.

Grab the map light in the wrong place at night and enjoy third degree burns on your fingers.

The FFFFFFFFFFFFFMS is a pain in the arse, especially in turbulence.

I always enjoyed the split on the thrust levers to maintain sync.

PAX DOOR HANDLE

The thrust reversers are operated by bleed air. They must be idled by 60knots, which is about the speed you're going when they finally deploy.

Landing/recog lights are powered by 1.5 volt Casio watch batteries.

I double dog dare you to charge your iPhone in the galley.

The Good: It's a sporty little thing. Most fun to handle out of the series. Max crosswind landings with gusts will make a man out of you. Flying a short, high speed visual approach is good for the soul.

It's better to learn the -200 then transition to the 700/900. I've seen guys go backwards and it is not easy.
 
As a previous CRJ200 guy, i agree that many of these are decent points.

Another one about the aileron control cables-I had a captain fly one where somehow the cables became wet (possible contamination from the ground) and the freezing temps in cruise made the cable snag/freeze/feel sluggish. So that's something to keep your hands near/on the yoke so that you can feel how hard the A/P is trying to turn or make a maneuver-just in case an issue develops.

Depending on how well your plane is balanced-if we had a full flight and there was a jumpseater- that usually meant another 200# of ballast is needed, of course subject to how many bags are in back.

N1 settings on approach- take the 1st 2 numbers of your weight, drop the zeros, and add 20 to the 1st 2 numbers. Eg.....47,000# landings....47+20.....= 67% N1
This will at least get you in the ballpark when fully configured.

As far as the cabin temp control-agreed-the auto basically only works on full cold or full hot, and riding in the back will freeze your feet.
There was a formula that someone made when I flew the plane that related to a duct temperature you would set manually that related to the number of people in the back.....but I don't have it handy (buried in a manual somewhere). If I find it ill post it.

When cracking the speedbrakes......take your time going smoothly between the notches.....just yanking the handle feels like driving full speed and running over speed bumps in the back. Just bad form/bad ride.

CRJ FMS is a language all it's owwwwwnnnnnn.

Relating to the wing/cowl switch activation, as its been mentioned previously, and if not done properly will be a pain in the buttox when it comes to performance penalties should that pressure value be open on the engines. I was given a plane in the winter with this deferral, and at least in our books it was time consuming/annoying to keep doing calculations.

Using speed mode on the autopilot works fine in climbs up to 10K, above that use vertical speed but be sure to keep an eye on it because that mode isn't speed protected.
On descents it's also easier to use vertical speed. Although I could sometimes establish a slight power on decent to keep air flowing thru the packs for the back and then use speed mode for the descent-but the rate wouldn't be fast.

Turning on/off the hydraulic pumps-don't slam the switches forward. Hands overflying the switch and hitting the panel moving forward can hit the passenger oxygen deploy switch.....even with the cover over the switch its possible to jostle it just enough.

Of the overhead switches that people have mentioned hitting their heads on-just make sure you look at the overhead panel and EICAS as mentioned. The captains regularly hit generator switches and the battery master. The FO usually hits the manual cabin rate up/down selector.

Be careful slinging/loading your flight case into the corner over your seat. Take your time there. Your back will thank you. Our company even put out a safety video demoing a way to do this in order to cut back on back injuries.
 
bunk22 said:
Sorry, I was looking for input from those who fly it or flew it. I get you're attempting to be funny or an a$$ but any real pilot knows not all planes fly the same. Anyway, for the real pilots, continue please :)
Click to expand...
...?
Beech 1900 - 991h, Saab340-1192h, CRJ 200-~300ish h, CRJ 900-2400h. They all fly about the same, some slow down better than others. Although my ego never got any bigger or smaller with the type aircraft, though my patience adjusted due to size of paycheck. It's an airplane, fly the damn thing, though I'm not a real pilot so take it for what it's worth.

pullup said:
Ouch!! That hurts, aw man you got me!!
Click to expand...
Yeah, it just got broughten!
 
Pilotdude3407 said:
I'm tired of people saying the -200 won't slow down and go down at the same time. I don't know what plane y'all have been flying but above 10K, you idle the thrust and it becomes a brick. I fly with so many people who get freaked out over crossing restrictions and flying the book recommended 3.0 degree slope. Idle it and watch it do 4K FPM all while slowing down. The kicker is not to be at 335 when you want to do an idle 4k decent. If you are running Econ speeds, it really falls behind the curve quick and turns into a brick.

Other stuff about the plane...some have brakes that when you step on them they sound like a pregnant elephant giving birth.

Some when you throw the gear out the cockpit bounces uncontrollably...some are very smooth

The older seat ones suck to sit in, but generally have a lighter better feel to me flying

The airplane is one giant A.D. There is an AD on practically every part of the plane for something or other

For an airplane made in Canada...it sure hates the cold. A cold soaked RJ is a strange RJ. You will see more problems than you can imagine on cold mornings...just let it warm up and 9 out of 10 times it will clear itself

You will hear "Try powering down the plane, then back up again and see if that clears it..." more than you will ever want to.

Never let the fuel get imbalanced...it is a disaster getting it back in balance.

You will feel a thump and a bang on occasion that will freak you out...it is nose wheel repressurizing in the uplocks. You will learn to ignore it

You will hate the old style keypads on the fms...
Click to expand...

Preach on brotha, preach on! I agree with everyting you just said, especially the elephant brakes.

I myself have about 400 hours on the plane, coming over from a Saab 340.

What I like:

The automation is easy to use.

It is a very sporty plane down low, especially in regards to roll rates... small yoke deflection required or the pax in the back notice it. Great aileron authority.

Lands very easily.

Systems are fairly simple (the saab has 28 electrical busses)

It goes faster than most other aircraft in its class

Its easy to stay ahead of the airplane

Easy plane to learn on, great first jet for myself personally

Thats all the pros that I can think of at the moment... generally I really like flying the little bug smasher... I'm sure I would like the 700 or 900 better though.

The things I DONT Like

Older FMS Keypad

Forward CG

No closet for crew bags

Jackholes who leave the seat all the way up and forward(how did you get out?)

Aenemic climb rate about 20k... personally I use SPEED (IAS Hold) mode til 10k, then Vert Speed to hold 290 til 20k, then just set 500fpm the rest of the way up

I don't like the pushbottons on the overhead panel... sometimes difficult to tell if they are In or Out

WHen you have the Wing AI on, you have to keep the power abbove the yellow band on the N2 if you have an ICE indication, otherwise you aren't properly heating the wings... this is a pain when you are slowing and descending. Often you'll have the power at 75% N2, descending at 1000fpm with the speed brakes totally out.

Environ controls suck in auto.

Checking the aft equipment bay on 1st flight after the captain has started the APU. We don't have to check the avionic bay anymore.

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.It's a decent aircraft and I'm enjoying my time on it.
 
jwp_145 said:
WHen you have the Wing AI on, you have to keep the power abbove the yellow band on the N2 if you have an ICE indication, otherwise you aren't properly heating the wings... this is a pain when you are slowing and descending. Often you'll have the power at 75% N2, descending at 1000fpm with the speed brakes totally out.
Click to expand...
If you don't mind futzing you can keep enough air on a lot of the planes by going into the yellow. What else are you going to do at vs -1.2 anyway.

On -900, it just works.
 
jynxyjoe said:
We've supposedly fixed the stupid flap thing, no idea if true. Will find out next winter possibly if they aren't all parked by then.

I think it's a lot more fun to fly than the -900, of course the whole thing is one giant transient caution/status message unless you actually have something mel'ed then is all that plus transient warning messages yelling at you. The -900 is a hell of a lot better machine, but the -200 is sporty, comes down quick, goes up quick below 10k. All of them seem to have that weird pickup in airspeed below 6000ft, but at least the -200 will come out of the sky and the spoilers/reversers actually do something. -900 spoilers and thrust reversers are basically noisemakers.

1900 was better.
Click to expand...

I know we've had a couple flap fails recently. Supposedly they're going to start installing flap actuator heaters. Really seems like a waste of money seeing as we seem to have the zero flap landing down to a science. Really the only issues we've had recently is trying to get into CHS with their ILSs out of service. Our version of the flap AD says you need cig and vis to even bring the flaps out of zero. So even if you have the vis, you can't go and take a look. We diverted to CAE last week and the station manager said it's been happening so much they have the bus company on speed dial.

I do like flying the -200. One of my peeves of people coming off the 700/900 is they forget that in a crosswind you basically have to fly the wing until you're at taxi speeds. I remember hardly needing any correction at all on the bigger ones once you're on the ground, but the -200 will bite you.

I do like how quickly the -200 will drop out of the sky once you get it dirty. I find it quite enjoyable when ATC queries if we are going to make it down in time. If only we could use our flaps above 200kts.
 
Re: ACARS, I got a message from crew scheduling a few years ago on a turn I had picked up on my days off to the effect of

WE HAVE MORE FLYING FOR YOU CALL ON GROUND
CS

They know when you have read a message, so you cannot deny that you got a JM notification, its the same as answering your phone on a JM. I had to speak to the CP and politely tell him to fornicate with himself.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I know we've had a couple flap fails recently. Supposedly they're going to start installing flap actuator heaters. Really seems like a waste of money seeing as we seem to have the zero flap landing down to a science. Really the only issues we've had recently is trying to get into CHS with their ILSs out of service. Our version of the flap AD says you need cig and vis to even bring the flaps out of zero. So even if you have the vis, you can't go and take a look. We diverted to CAE last week and the station manager said it's been happening so much they have the bus company on speed dial.

I do like flying the -200. One of my peeves of people coming off the 700/900 is they forget that in a crosswind you basically have to fly the wing until you're at taxi speeds. I remember hardly needing any correction at all on the bigger ones once you're on the ground, but the -200 will bite you.

I do like how quickly the -200 will drop out of the sky once you get it dirty. I find it quite enjoyable when ATC queries if we are going to make it down in time. If only we could use our flaps above 200kts.
Click to expand...
Last I heard CHS is on stage one of 6 and we are 3 months behind. I gotta ask around when we get the big runway back.

Lemme know if you get a long one, of course you'd have to get in here somehow.

Continuing on your point about the crosswind, it shocked me what a tonka toy the -200 is in a xwind.
 
jtrain609 said:
While I don't fly the CRJ-200, I've had to follow enough of them and sadly, he seems to be correct. The thing can climb, or it can go forward, but it can't do both at the same time. When you consider that they took a business jet, stretched it, and didn't give it enough power, it makes sense.
Click to expand...

Oh please dude, it's not like your plane is the SR-71 Blackbird.
 
jtrain609 said:
While I don't fly the CRJ-200, I've had to follow enough of them and sadly, he seems to be correct. The thing can climb, or it can go forward, but it can't do both at the same time. When you consider that they took a business jet, stretched it, and didn't give it enough power, it makes sense.
Click to expand...
Seggy said:
Oh please dude, it's not like your plane is the SR-71 Blackbird.
Click to expand...
You're both pretty.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I know we've had a couple flap fails recently. Supposedly they're going to start installing flap actuator heaters. Really seems like a waste of money seeing as we seem to have the zero flap landing down to a science. Really the only issues we've had recently is trying to get into CHS with their ILSs out of service. Our version of the flap AD says you need cig and vis to even bring the flaps out of zero. So even if you have the vis, you can't go and take a look. We diverted to CAE last week and the station manager said it's been happening so much they have the bus company on speed dial.
Click to expand...
In the words of Luke Skywalker, "what a piece of junk!"

etflies said:
Forgot to retract them in the flare, probably.
Click to expand...
"We can't move AND run a checklist!"

Table Two said:
Re: ACARS, I got a message from crew scheduling a few years ago on a turn I had picked up on my days off to the effect of

WE HAVE MORE FLYING FOR YOU CALL ON GROUND
CS

They know when you have read a message, so you cannot deny that you got a JM notification, its the same as answering your phone on a JM. I had to speak to the CP and politely tell him to fornicate with himself.
Click to expand...
Where I work, acknowledgement of non-safety-of-flight-related AFIS (ACARS-lite) messages is at Captain's discretion (and those that pertain to "have a nice Imperial turn when you should be on the beach or playing video games" are oft left up to the affected aggrieved party).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top