Forum: Civil and General Aviation

Which plane do you guys think might be better from both the passengers' and pilots' view points. I personally like the A350's flight deck and cabin. I think the 787's cabin looks too oddly shaped and ugly. Plus I prefer the side stick control that the A350 has. I just wanted to hear other peoples' opinion.

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The answer to this question is very simple pal.. Boeing 787 Dreamliner is not a dream ,its a reality and the most advanced commercial airliner the world has ever seen and is taking shape and ready to get airborne in 2008... A-350 on the other hand is only a dream which most probably won't get off the ground .

After A-380 disaster,few people believe that Airbus will ever be able to compete with Boeing in this highly profitable wide-body market. Their outgoing CEO of Airbus has confessed that Boeing is now 10-15 years ahead. Airbus is doomed ! 777's, 787's and the new 747-8 in passenger and freight versions will rule the skies in the coming decades.

A-340 is already dead ,A-380 is stalled for at least 2-3 years with uncertain future. A-350 is still under consideration and IMO it is too late to launch it because 787 has already captured the world markets.

Side stick control?? you godda be kidding..this has deliberately been avoided by Boeing .I knew few pilots who hate this.

Yea, but if Airbus no longer competes, Boeing can jack up the prices for there planes because they know if Airbus is gone airlines won't have any other company to turn to for large to medium haul airliners. If Airbus or Boeing offers better aircraft than there competitor, for a cheaper price then the airlines will turn to that company.
Plus with the side stick controler, you can control the aircraft with greater ease because you can have one hand on the stick and the other on the throttle at all times. Plus all you have to do is move your hand, not your arms. I heard a lot of airlines requsted that Boeing put in the side sitck for the 787 or at least make it an customer option.

One of the reasons Airbus did well in the last 10 or so years is because it could offer their product for less than Boeing (in some cases at a loss) thanks to Airbus's EU subsidy base. But take subsidies away, make Airbus a stand-alone entity, let 'em compete 1-v-1 with Boeing using free-market ROE, and see how they fare. If they hold they're own, great. But I wouldn't be optimistic. The overnight freight company that employs my valuable services ( Wink

) ordered the 380 when it was first offered but several higher-ups in the pilot corps and corporate HQ are gettin' antsy with Airbus with the delays. We were supposed to start flying 'em in late '08 but that's obviously changed. Personally I would've like to have seen our colors on a 747-8 or even a 787 Freighter but I think it's a little too late in the game for us cancel unless the whole thing goes belly-up.

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Plus with the side stick controler, you can control the aircraft with greater ease because you can have one hand on the stick and the other on the throttle at all times. Plus all you have to do is move your hand, not your arms. I heard a lot of airlines requsted that Boeing put in the side sitck for the 787 or at least make it an customer option.

SSCs are nice, but not the be-all and end-all of flight deck design. There's some that like 'em, and some that prefer the old-fashioned wheel (even though it's part of a FBW design). Most jets that are new enough to have SSCs and/or FBW flight control systems include an autopilot that the crew switches to soon after takeoff anyways. So working the stick or wheel by hand is minimal. I've sat in an A320 captain's seat and the the stick placement is a tad awkward. Too far down and forward for my tastes. They would have done better to put it on a post or pedestal closer to the outboard armrest. The open area in front of you does make playing Solitaire much easier tho! Wink

Throttles? Except for some older legacy jets, most modern airliners have auto-throttles that don't need manual input in flight. I can speak from first hand experience that most heavy drivers flying late model CAT II/III-capable jets get the thing airborne by hand, turn it over to HAL once ATC nav clearance is granted, and don't touch it again until maybe 300 to 500' AGL on landing approach (and sometimes they don't even do that!). It's obviously different in some of the legacy jets (727, 737-100/200, DC-9, etc.) but in fact many pilots like being able to hand-fly the beast from time to time...even on landing.

I also heard the left and side stick was awkward but they (pilots) later said they quickly got used to it. Plus with that room you metined in the front , you get more room for charts and multipal papers on the tray than on that little pad on the yoke. But back to the planes, the 747 took a while to catch on, but it did and i think the same thing will happen to the A380, and maybe even A350. Maybe if the A350 comes out way after the 787, it can serve as a replacement if the A350 is better. A380 can carry more cargo by volume then the 747 F can.

Forum: Civil and General Aviation

A350 vs B-787