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

NC_BE300 said:
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.
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OK that hurts just reading it. Personally I'd just set 83% N2 and be done with it.
 
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 :)
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Oh poor baby, did somebody type something in YOUR thread? Come here, I'll kiss it.
Check the ego son.
 
How could I have forgotten the second worst autopilot feature??? (behind only the LOC intercept). Climbing in climb mode. Below 250 it's not too bad. But above 250KIAS in bumpy WX, you will almost continuously float the pax, then pull 2 G's, then float, then pull etc.
The best method is to climb in vertical speed mode. Pitch mode is an option, but I personally do not like it.
But ya, the thing can't intercept a LOC for crap. My technique is to intercept in FMS mode, then go to HDG mode, switch nav source, then back to NAV or APPR mode. Some guys prefer to yank and bank on the LOC intercept, but I figure most pax aren't paying for an adrenaline rush. They want to travel from point A to point B at 1 G.
 
eightballfreight said:
Oh poor baby, did somebody type something in YOUR thread? Come here, I'll kiss it.
Check the ego son.
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You tell someone to check their ego, then call him son? That is a contradictory statement.
By the way, if you read this reply before I edited it, I apologize.
I realized it would be cowardly to say something online that I probably would not say face to face.
 
Hey everybody, this is a private email from eightballfreight <edited>

Mod comment: Yeah, there's a reason it was a private message, in that it was sent privately. If you have issues with the PM deal with it in PMs or report the PM if you feel you're being harassed via PMs. PMs do NOT need to be publicly posted.
 
Question for the AWAC pilots...

Is your fleet 8/20, all 20, or a combination of 8/20 and 20 on the flap settings?
 
Lots of good (and some really bad) info for you bunk22 in this thread. And congrats on choosing AWAC as I think you'll have a good time over there. It's a damn shame my company didn't get off their ass and get you in a class.

First off, I'm not sure how much experience you have with glass, but if you don't, the two things that will make the transition easier for you are the sky pointer (it sits at the very top of the ADI display and ALWAYS points straight up) and the speed trend vector (it's the little pink worm that shows where your speed will be in 3 or 5 seconds depending on the software). If you just try to "squish the worm" by using thrust lever input, you'll have a pretty easy job of staying on speed, even if you don't know the pitch/power settings of the plane.

Moving on beyond that, another big change will be switching from a training/fighter/only guy in the plane mindset to a SMOOTH control input mindset. I've seen SO many new hires who only were students, instructors and then survey/freight/whatever pilots not have the concept that you have to be VERY gently with the plane with people in the back. I have a funny (over beers some time sort of) story about the first time I flew a charter in a Seneca with passengers in the back.

As far as what has been discussed in this thread so far...

The gear is very forgiving, but if you aren't tracking straight when you touch down it can be a pretty violent landing. Learn to kick the rudder early and often on touch down.

The plane lands VERY nose low. It's not unusual for a FedEx guy (who's never ridden up front on a 200 before) to let out a girlish scream during the flare due to the sight picture of pretty much plowing the nose into the ground. The plane *almost* lands three pointed. I pull 1/3 the power at 100 feet and the rest at 50, "flare" at about 10 feet to 1 degree up and leave it there and let the plane settle to the ground. It's almost impossible to have a GREAT landing in the 200 (unlike the 700/900) but it's rare to have a REALLY bad landing (again, unlike the 700/900).

The flaps had lots of issues. Most airlines have reduced their flap extension speeds from 230 down to 200 (for 8 and 20 degrees of flaps) and over here at least, our flap fail numbers have gone down by about 80%. They still do break (especially when you get frozen water in the system) but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I've done about 5 flapless landings in 6000 hours in the jet. One side benefit of landing flapless is that due to the high speed (it can be above 170 knots) you come in nose high and it feels like you are flying a real plane.

The engines are weak. Airspeed management is the name of the game. Even at ISA+10 it is possible to get a fully loaded 200 up to 34,000 feet. It just takes a while and you don't move forward very much while you do it. That said, a light airplane in the winter will have no problem holding at least 800fpm all the way up. Just be aware of getting on the back side of the power curve and that there are times when the altitude you are filed for is not one that you can actually fly at.

A related thing to this is that the thrust levers don't sync in any way. If you don't watch the N1 gauges you will constantly be out of sync. Depending on what type of headset you use (side suggestion: Spend the money on a Telex 850 or other noise canceling model... the 750s are cheap and do work, but you will get some really loud planes and the fans inside can be pretty loud too. lots of guys use DCs, but personally I get a headache after 5 minutes with those), you may not be able to hear it, but everybody else will. Do everybody a favor and sync up the damn N1s..

Anti Ice (wings especially) will kill your climb performance. Just how it is. Descending in icing conditions requires the thrust levers up a bit to keep enough air coming off the engines. It is considered normal practice to descend in icing with the spoilers out a bit and the thrust up. Silly (especially for a Canadian airplane) but just another thing to do. Also, the spoilers are mostly noise makers in this plane. They do some speed reduction, but not much. If you really need to come down, get the gear out and the flaps to at least 20 or even better 30.

Learn the FMS inside and out when you can. Despite the lack of automation attached to it, there is a ton of useful information embedded in there. Also, the radar is a bit of a black box. You will figure it out as you go.

You will start to get a handle on the tricks of operating the 200 as you go. Things like having to pull the power back slightly when transferring the bleeds when single pack. Things like ignoring an EFIS COMP MON message when departing LGA (or pulling in to any jetway). Things like not asking "what the hell George doing now" and just clicking off the autopilot and hand flying for a bit.

Despite all its flaws, it's a pretty damn good airplane. I hope you enjoy flying it.
 
jynxyjoe said:
...?
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.
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So you agree, they are different. We all fly the airplane we are given but they do not all fly the same any pilot worth his salt understands that. But like you say, you're admitting you're not a real pilot :)

I will say the whole uncomfortable cockpit, being hot, etc...I've flown navy jets with 30lbs of gear on, 100 degrees in the cockpit, sweating like you read about, in a cockpit I can barely move in. Sat on the deck of a carrier in the Gulf, 145 degrees on the flight deck, waiting to start the APU that barely functioned, breathing in jet fumes, eyes burning so bad I'm crying like a little biatch :) . My point is, I look forward to the CRJ-200, even with all it's issues. I'm liking what I'm hearing, at least from those who know what they are talking about!! Thank you very much for the information.
 
bunk22 said:
But like you say, you're admitting you're not a real pilot :)
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Hey folks, he's from the Navy and he can read and type.
bunk22 said:
We all fly the airplane we are given but they do not all fly the same any pilot worth his salt understands that.
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I used to think it was a big deal, after years of flying I find it's not. Only thing that seems to trip me up is taxing a light single anymore. Though surely yours is the superior intelligence. I'll defer to your experience in this case. :)
 
jynxyjoe said:
Hey folks, he's from the Navy and he can read and type.
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Well yeah, we learn that on day two, maybe three!!!


jynxyjoe said:
I used to think it was a big deal, after years of flying I find it's not. Only thing that seems to trip me up is taxing a light single anymore. Though surely yours is the superior intelligence. I'll defer to your experience in this case. :)
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Sounds like a pilot who has only flown straight and level his entire career, very impressive dude ;) . As it is, there are plenty of pilots here who obviously know that there is a difference between aircraft, even if it's a small and delicate difference.
 
NC_BE300 said:
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.
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Isnt it like Number of pax plus 63 or something like that? No, its 63 minus number of pax.
 
bunk22 said:
even if it's a small and delicate difference.
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Yes but you're not honestly asking for advice on training muscle memory. If you're talking about system glitches or finger banging the FMS there were plenty of informative tips all over the thread before I came in here.

You were impolite to pullup, and in polite society you're just going to have to get used to people judging you by how you treat others. Anyway, keep smiling, it makes you so pretty. MWAH
 
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.
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I had a captain last week not fly the wing on a 25kt xwind at all... this after making a 3point landing! I didn't say anything, but I did reach up with my knee and push the yoke in the proper direction.
 
jynxyjoe said:
Yes but you're not honestly asking for advice on training muscle memory. If you're talking about system glitches or finger banging the FMS there were plenty of informative tips all over the thread before I came in here.

You were impolite to pullup, and in polite society you're just going to have to get used to people judging you by how you treat others. Anyway, keep smiling, it makes you so pretty. MWAH
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I was impolite only after his smarta$$ comment, he knew what he was saying and thus if you want to be an a$$, expect to be treated as such and of course this includes you. So you are right, he got what he deserved, thanks for the input. Regardless, does he need someone sticking up for him, does he need his daddy? My guess is he can handle himself and he did so in a very good manner I though. You want to keep it up, keep being a jerk? I can throw thrash all day long if need be. This thread was started as a discussion on flying a jet, not a political opinion, not a social issue, about flying a jet.
 
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