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-   -   Airbus A320 Long-Term, 3 Million KMs Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commercial-vehicles/138878-airbus-a320-long-term-3-million-kms-review-3.html)

The tyre survives only 100 landings and take-offs. Say a plane lands and takes off at least 3 times at different places a day. Then it means that the tyre lasts for 100/3 = @ 34 days only.
So every month a plane needs to change all the tyres. If I am not wrong minimum 6 tyres right? A costly affair!

Thanks god my car tyres last longer!

Wow this is yet another awesome stuff ! I am glued to this thread. Thanks a lot for sharing this. Came to know many new things.

Team Bhp now a days is really exceeding ones expectations! Threads like Mumbai to Goa solo on a Kayak, Cycling the Leh Ladakh region, the horror story of Sunvista and now this thread are awesomely different from the common stuffs! Not to mention apart from these there are many mind-blowing threads too. Am loving every bit of my stay in Team Bhp!

This may be a silly question. Since the two engines are on either side of the fuselage, how will the airplane behave with only one engine running? My rusty brain could only visualize it will go round and round in circles stupid:.

Awesome thread. Hooked on to this. Made my Sunday read.

Waiting for more insights and pictures.



Cheers,
Yogesh.

Thanks for such a different thread. Its nice to see such varied list of class of vehicles on TeamBHP. I've been mostly flying Indigo and therefore in A320s. I love the on time performance of Indigo and also the timings are ok for me as I've to travel to Patna to catch a flight. So since I fly out/in of Patna, I also have a question for you, have you flown in to Patna? Everytime the flight has to come to land at Patna, it scares the hell out of me and most of the landings have been kind of hard landings. Please share if you have any experience. I guess you should address your passengers including your nick name, you never know you'll meet a BHPian on flight. Wishing you happy jet miles ahead. Just a request, please keep updating the thread with snaps and videos. Thanks again.

Here's a chat conversation on the same topic that took place between me and a friend of mine who is Boeing 737 pilot with Oman Air.


I guess the thump on landing at many airports cannot be avoided. For e.g, with Mangalore, always the landings are most of the times hard because the short runways and the aircraft having to touch down within specific limit on the runways. The loss of Air India Express 812 is a chilling reminder of this.

In many airports with bigger runways, for e.g, Mumbai, I have noticed the pilot sort of floats the aircraft above the runway before touching down to enable smooth touch down.I don't know if there is specific name for that maneuver. In some airports, it is just not possible to do this because of shorter runways.

Thanks a ton for starting this thread.
I was always fascinated by these Airbus and Boeing Aeroplanes and have enjoyed whenever i got a chance to travel in them. Have watched many cockpit videos of landings and take off in youtube.
Looking forward to more from you. :thumbs up

Great thread ifly. BHPians always welcome a discussion about anything that moves people. Brings back the memories of the A320's I got to see as part of my educational project. We expect few more pics from the cockpit.

:OT I think with bhpians having covered a ship, we are left with only a Space shuttle to discuss @Team-BHP.

You have alieron and rudder trim adjustments to counter it and make the plane according to inputs.

@iFly, one question. I have observed in the A380 during landing , the reverse thrust is applied only to the 2 engines at the extremes whereas in the 747 all 4 engines are put on reverse thrust. Is it done deliberately or is the 380's only 2 engines are enough to slow it down?

Interesting thread. Subscribed.
Sometimes I get a feeling that some of the big birds are almost still while approaching landing. How slow a plane can fly?

By the way, if you guys are inquisitive to know to where a flight is headed to when you see it in air, install flight radar 24 app. Awesome is the word, gives real time info of most of the flights. Try the web version to get a feel of what it can do.

Personaly, I have experienced the A320 as a bit smoother than the B737 which is the nearest counterpart. I believe the design dynamics of the B737 are better owing to the wing span and the wingtip design which should make the ride smoother than the A320s but as usual the software has an edge. The A320 has got a advanced response mechanism to handle the turbulance which makes it a little smoother than the B737. I heard that the latest editions of the Boeing offrings have adopted software similar on the lines of Lockheed turbulance control systems to make them much more pliant.
But frankly irrespective of the plane, I have found the flying crew to be more responcible of the smoothness of the ride. I have flown 380s and 777ERs which had butter smooth as well as bone jarring landings as well. To my amusement, the airline you are flying does make 50% of the difference in in-flight experience as well as out-flight experience. All for the betterment of the passangers..


Note from Support: Spell-check before posting please. Thanks!

Wow. We now have a pilot too here in team-bhp. clap:

Regarding the sound barrier, here's the physics-
Sound (unlike light) is dependent on the medium. Also, aircrafts have 2 speeds-
ground speed and air speed. To experience a sonic boom, the plane must exceed the sound velocity in air speed, which is not possible in the 320, unless you nose dive. Even then, I believe the Vne (Never exceed speed) of the 320 is rated at less than 1 Mach (airspeed). So, no pilot would actually do it.

In short, it might be totally possible to exceed the speed of sound (relative to the ground) with very high velocity tail winds and still not have a sonic boom.

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@ifly - Just wanted to ask something. I have found that some flights are cold and some are not so. Do pilots adjust the temperature/ will they adjust if passengers feel uncomfortable with the temperature? Or is it just better to take a few extra clothes? lol:

Also could you tell us which is the most scenic flight route in India?
I once flew Kingfisher from Guwahati to Delhi and the Himalayan peaks on the right were simply breathtaking.

These tyres do last about 90-100 takeoff and landings. However normally a B737 or A320 would make about 5-7 landings in a day. Which means it needs a replacement in 15 to 20 days. But they are sent for retreading. A tyre gets a retread for about 5-6 times in its lifespan and thereafter it is replaced with a new one.

Talking about flying in turbulence, let me assure you very few pilots would like to fly through a storm. But yes the design of the aircraft such as thickness of the wings do contribute towards lateral stability during bad weather.

Now a few pictures which were clicked from the restricted area (read Flight Deck)






This one is Mata Vishno Devi Darshan.

I have once been to A320 cockpit while the plane was at Mangalore airport on the way to Cochin. The plane was empty and I though what better way to spend time than do sight seeing.

The skipper was quite friendly and showed me the controls (fly by wire, if I remember and said that there is some sort of redundancy in the computers) and the seat adjustment (that was quite "different" for me). But what really struck me was the number of gauges and panels! How could a human possibly keep those in check ...

I had a few questions though (which I couldn't ask then):
1. Ever faced the dreaded compressor surge? (I believe the aircraft folks use a different name for it - "compressor stall" if I am not wrong)
2. Do you folks actually calculate the load, distance, cruising speed, time thingie and thus the fuel every time or is it according to a pre-planned program.
3. How much impact does passenger "excess" baggage actually make in the fuel consumption calculations?
4. Ever been guilty of PIO? :) (To be clear, I have never faced it in my limited flying, as passenger, inside India). Also why can't the computer control such a condition?
5. How the heck do you pilots do crabbing!! ?? It looks so crazy from outside :D
6. Lets say due to weather conditions or anything else, you cannot land at the desired place, how much fuel is (usually) in excess, how far/long-duration (usually) can you go?
7. Flaps vs Slats which are, in practice, more effective in reducing the stall speed?
8. Ever had a "phew, made it" moment?
(I am having mine right now = "Phew, done with my questions")

I know a few questions may be appear probing, but then don't worry this is internet, and everyone under a cloak of anonymity. :)

Also just a general observations, why do you airline folks (pilots, stewards) talk in incomprehensible english over the PA?

Mods - delete this post if needed. But i HAD to ask him this:

Mate - are you allowed to sport our Team-B stickers on any of your planes?
stupid:<-yes i am! But i had to ask you :).