Odd A321 Take Off

[phllax]

Thanks everyone for the informative responses. BTW, his total flight time was 5h 05m. Not bad for all the weather across the nation today.

 

[UseYourHead]

The change in noise level and lower thrust can very easily be bufferered by simply moving the thrust levels from Takeoff or Flex detents to the Climb detent.

Airbus uses detents that correspond to the mode of flight. So if you do a full power takeoff, a FLEX (reduced thrust takeoff due to excess runway available), the rate that an airbus pilot moves from one detent to another has everything to do with the pax perception of reduction in thrust.

Move them slowly and folks do not here any rapid ruducetion becuese the is not one.

Many Airbus pilots quickly move the levers from te takeoff setting to the climb setting and you hear and feel the difference.

In an airline jet, you take off at "take off thrust" and usually at 1000' above the ground (sometimes higher at certain airports or in certain conditions) thrust is reduced to climb thrust, and that's where it stays until you level off. All airlines also use reduced thrust takeoffs when runway length and aircraft load permits, which saves engine wear and tear. Reduced thrust takeoffs are calculated using assumed higher temperatures than actually exist, so a lower takeoff thrust setting(sometimes climb too) is used. If an emergency occurs or weather conditions dictate, the thrust can always be instantly pushed up to the higher maximum setting.

As far as feeling an exaggerated "throttling back" to climb thrust in the A321, that model is super sensitive to thrust setting changes from the takeoff setting, compared to the A319 and A320. So it's much more noticeable when going from takeoff thrust to climb thrust, unless it's done very slowly, which most pilots try to do. A relatively low initial level off altitude on departure (2 or 3 thousand feet) would probably give you the same feeling.

 

[robbedagain]

this is a little out of the world but a few weeks back, we had a 767 divert into ABE and the plane turned off of the runway a little less than half down and when it took off it was like a missile! the question is when the 767 takes off does it always climb almost straight up like a fighter jet?

 

[PHL]

The 767 "launching" out of ABE was probably because it had much less fuel than normal since, I believe, it only had to transition back to PHL.

 

[hp_fa]

The 767 "launching" out of ABE was probably because it had much less fuel than normal since, I believe, it only had to transition back to PHL.

Off topic, but you want to talk of launching, I have seen UA's 747-400's launch from both directions between SFO and their maintenance facility in OAK. No pax, no bags and very little fuel. Now that is a takeoff.

 

[robbedagain]

that would explain the 767 and it took off with about 29000 and 120 pax on board. thanks

 

[luvn737s]

The change in noise level and lower thrust can very easily be bufferered by simply moving the thrust levels from Takeoff or Flex detents to the Climb detent.

Airbus uses detents that correspond to the mode of flight. So if you do a full power takeoff, a FLEX (reduced thrust takeoff due to excess runway available), the rate that an airbus pilot moves from one detent to another has everything to do with the pax perception of reduction in thrust.

Move them slowly and folks do not here any rapid ruducetion becuese the is not one.

Many Airbus pilots quickly move the levers from te takeoff setting to the climb setting and you hear and feel the difference.

Not really. If there is no significant thrust difference between the flex and climb settings, there will be no significant change in noise, regardless of how fast or slow you move the thrust levers. If there is a big difference in power setting between flex and climb (heavy weights are an example) then moving them slowly can help smooth things out.

 

[Seatacus]

It's partly driven by dollars and partly by noise.

That's what I figured. It makes some sense only if safety is not comprimised but I guess the engineers have that all figured out.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I guess the engineers have that all figured out.

Just remember that all the flight testing to verify compliance with the FAR's and set performance criteria is done with a brand spanking new airplane flown by test pilots....

Jim

 

[wings396]

that would explain the 767 and it took off with about 29000 and 120 pax on board. thanks

I recall seeing a few 757's "Blast off" from ABE in the past, and they climbed like crazy...
I remember back when I was in EWR seeing a few DC-10's and 747's takeoff on Rwys. 11/29, and that was a sight to see.
I can't remember their length, but they are the shorter of the Rwys. there...

 

[SegmentKing]

what is/was really scary: Watching Champion Air 727's climb out of Las Vegas in the middle of the summer... the nose appears to be up, but the sucker just doesn't look like its climbing!

Then to compare, a 757 will take off after it and show us what "performance" is all about!

 

[NAPAUS]

The same thing happened this afternoon to SFO. The pilot said we were too heavy. I thought it was because of the senior FA's onboard.

Or maybe all the overweight businessmen golfer's sitting in f/c!

 

[A320 Driver]

It's not fair comparing the B-757 to anything that hauls passengers.

What a rocket!

A320 Driver

 

[phasersonstun2]

I wonder why you wouldn't throttle up and get to altitude as quick as you can. Isn't it safer to have more space between you and the ground just in case of anything going wrong (like losing an engine).

No such thing as "throttling up". We use power settings commensurate with a variety of factors, including such things as fuel economy and engine life. If the flight seems to have a high power setting for takeoff and a drastically reduced setting in the air, that's a good thing to hear. The last thing we want to do is to torch the hot section of the engines by not reducing power to the maximum continuous setting as soon as practical.

If the airplane were in need of extra power (emergency), we would use it all.

 

[N109UW]

The same thing happened this afternoon to SFO. The pilot said we were too heavy. I thought it was because of the senior FA's onboard.

That's a great point, as we all know LCC only carries small, skinny, petite, well mannered and attractive paxs.