Haven't flown commercial much the last year or so.  Even with that the last few years it seems that if I have any issues with mechanical problems it's always Airbus equipment.   Seems to always be "computer issues" also.

What the hell?  Is it just my perception or are they really less reliable than the Boeing stuff?

Granted, all western commercial aircraft are still 99.999% better than Russian or other crap.

they all break from time to time.



from when I worked the line, they usually feed pax a bunch of BS anyways.  You don't want to know that the outflow valve is acting funny do ya?  or the engine just flashed a chip detector?  

Heard a new one recently (USAir B737).  Someone in the cockpit came on and said departure would be delayed because they had loaded more fuel in one wing than the other and had to wake up a mech to come out and get the fuel properly balanced.  Legit??  In nearly fifty years of traveling, never heard that one. I congratulated the capatain on their originality on departing the aircraft in Phx.  He was not amused.

It's all ball bearings nowadays.

Oh that is cute.  Never heard that one before.

Yeah my last adventure was a 320 out of O'Hare about a year ago.  All loaded up and they had "computer issues". Line guys actually came on board and were swapping boards in the cockpit (real confidence builder).  Still a no go.  Off load and they moved us to another plane four gates down.  We don't even get on the plane and the crew comes back off saying its deadlined.  20 minutes later they pull a new plane up to the original gate and the crew walks up to the counter and then away.  They had timed out.  

Spent the night at the airport hotel........

VOOT, VOOT, VOOT....VOOT, VOOT....VOOT, VOOT, VOOT....

You'd love embraer's then!

 

Made it home finally.  3.5 hours late.  

Yes it could have been the truth.

Yep. Fuel imbalance. I've had to come out and transfer fuel from tank to tank to get things balanced. Never did it on a gate call though, it was caught by the crew before they accepted the plane.

Lots of swapping of black boxes, cards (as was mentioned above) de-power/re-power, re-setting of circuit breakers, re-racking boxes, ect, ect. The newer A/C are so computer dependent that these fixes might seem like BS to the unknowing flying public, but are credible fixes. Not excuses. Give the mechs a break next time they are called out to the gate. They don't like seeing you, as much as you don't like seeing them.

They're the happiest sitting in the line shack watching planes get pushed back and seeing you on your way......

Personal story......get called to the gate by Mx Ctrl. Aircraft was being pushed back from the gate, when wing walker spots something stuck to right MLG tire. He tells ramp supervisor, ramp sup tells pilot he's pulling the plane back into the gate. Captain gets out, inspects MLG tire, finds screw embedded in tire tread. We come out, see screw in tire, and tell Mtx Ctrl and pilot to de-board plane for tire change. (Can't jack up aircraft with pax on board for safety reasons.)

We return with new tire and tools for the job, as the disgruntled pax are being directed off the plane and back into the concourse. One gentleman slips out of line under a rope safety barrier, and comes charging up to me, cussing me out asking why we picked this time to delay the flight and change the tire. Why we couldn't have done it earlier when the plane was just sitting.

By this time, ramp agents are rushing over grabbing the guy by the arm, telling him he can't be back here on the ramp and to get inside the concourse with the rest of the passengers. Mr. Jackass gets hauled away, complaining the whole time how we made a bad decision changing the tire now, causing his flight to be delayed.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Jackass passenger, the screw was missed by the previous crew during their post-flight  walk-around and the new crew during their pre-flight walk-around, because the tire rolled to a stop directly on top of the screw. It was physically impossible to see the screw stuck in the tire. Now, had the wing walker not been vigilant, and spot the screw, bringing it to the attention of his sup, the plane could have suffered a blow out on either take off or landing. That could have put a definite damper on Mr. Jackasses travel plans.

So in the eyes of Mr. Jackass passenger, the airline was at fault. But, he didn't have the full story and to him it just appeared as if we made a bad decision to just suddenly change a tire and delay the flight. So to the passengers, maintenance delays and the reasons why they happen and the resulting fix, might seem like BS, but trust me, 99.99% of the time, they are not.

we would have changed that tire without opening the door, have the captain feed the logbook through the side window.  another on-time departure



certain planes we could change a tire in 4 minutes, brake in under 15



 

Oh, trust me, we were just as quick with brake and tire changes. Sometimes we'd make jokes referencing race pit crews. I'm sure we all have at one time or another. On boring days, when a tire change was called in, you'd have 6 or more guys headed out to the gate. Guys jacking the aircraft while others pulled the old tire. Guys grabbing the logbook making tire change entries. Guys filling out parts tags. Guys prepping the new tire. Guys filling out job cards. Guys setting torque wrenches. We were quick and efficient at our jobs. Time was not an issue.

As far as changing the tire without opening the door....as I mentioned, we could not jack the aircraft with pax onboard. Went for fueling as well.

yep, different times back when I did it  



wasn't THAT long ago



 

Different times, or different GMM procedures, or lack of?

Dont know anything about airbus fuel system, the crew can't balance fuel?  

I don't know anything about the air bus .But some airplanes you can't move fuel from one tank to another from inside the cockpitt.We could move fuel from one tank to the cross side engine or apu.And buring 150lbs per hour with the apu could take some time to get the fuel balance in limits. Now there was a maintence function on one airplane I flew that the mechanics could transfer from one tank to another.But that was from outside the airplane and the mechanic had to do it.

Something MEL'd?

I'm pretty much going to echo this. I work on 737s, and I'm not sure how similar or different the two fuel systems are. To transfer fuel on a 737, you have to go out to the fuel panel, open the valve (flip a switch) of the fuel tank that you want fuel to go into, open a separate panel and pull on a lever to open the de-fuel valve, and then go into the cockpit and turn on a boost pump in the tank that you want fuel out of.

The A32X series and 737NG are possibly the most reliable aircraft in the world.

Ha!  The first time I heard that, I thought there was a big dog in a kennel in the cargo area or something.

 

Not that recent.  Aug 19th was Airways's last 737 flight.

By the way legit.

Your forefathers traveling on a wagon train to Oregon, "Wagon master, when are we going to get there?"   Five minutes later, "Wagon master, are we going to have to fight Indians today?"   Ten minutes later, "Wagon master, are we going to have to eat our dead this winter?"  ETC, ETC,  ETC

I have worked for Boeing for 26 years now, so admittedly I'm biased.

But would any of you buy a French car?

I still own two Peugeot 505 Turbos. Yes, they run.

Good possibility.  Can't take off with over a certain fuel imbalance.  That would be a bad idea.



 

there are still 26 year old boeings flying, not so much for the other guys (3rd world doesn't count)



 

I'd happily take a Max Holste Broussard or a Daussault Falcon 50 with a glass cockpit.

My Boeing is a 1959 model.  Still has another thirtyish years left in her.

Most A320's are assembled in Hamburg Germany.

 




 

Found a big old bolt in one of the left main's the other day in MMMX.  Who knows ho long it was actually in there?

Just happened to have been parked so that it could be seen.

That's what everyone says.

Two things, at least in respect to where I work:

1)  in the bus, crews do not balance fuel from the cockpit (I actually don't think it can be done...not quickly, anyway).  There is no written procedure for it.  Max imbalance allowed is 3000 lbs as far as pilots are concerned.  I've never had an imbalance anywhere near that.

2) I'm typed in 757's, 767's, 737's, 707's. 720's and A320's.  The bus is no more or less reliable than any of those aircraft, in my experience.  Although. sometimes the way to fix a glitch on the bus is to pull a few breakers, wait a bit, and reset them.  For really weird, persistent avionics/electronics stuff, a "ctrl/alt/del" (completely de-power the aircraft) works.

I prefer a complete 30 min power down.  Wow, you are typed for a 720.  That's back in the stone age.  Bus in my experience are not tolerate to get bad power from gpus.

A 720 guy is a tanker dude.

Did not know that.  Boeing made a 720 variant from the 707.

Haha, every time I hear comments like this, I think of this YouTube clip.

NSFW!!!!  The airline travel parts starts at 3:50, but the whole thing is funny.

Airline travel

The local FSDO give our -135 guys a 707 type rating.

I have both 707 and 720.   Haven't flown a KC-135 or any of the -135 airframes.

Kind of like getting the MU-300 type for free when you get the BE-400.

And -135s aren't 707s.   Similar, but not one in the same.  

I flew the KC/EC-135, and the FSDO gave me the B-707/720 Type rating for that.

I'm assuming that the E-3 gets the same double type, as should the Navy's E-6.....As those are ACTUAL 707 airframes while the KC-135 is actually the "REAL" B-717.....Not the MD-95 rebranded Micky Boeing....

I never got the type myself, but I wonder if it is a 707/720 type my buddies got.   Always thought it was funny that the FSDO gave 707 types to -135 guys.   Guess it really doesn't matter with the small number of non .mil 707s out there.

and EC-135s huh?  You're old  I mean that in a good way.  Some of my favorite -135 instructors were former EC guys.  Lots of Offutt and Ellsworth time.

Ahhhhh....the FAA  

I'm pretty sure the -135 was a derivative off the 720, not the 707. But, a FSDO has lots of autonomy, and who gives a shit?

I didn't realize ECs were ever at Ellsworth.

If memory serves, the KC has a 144"dia. fuselage whereas the 720/707 has a 148" diameter.  The prototype -80 had a diameter of 132".  The 720 is 8 or 9 feet shorter than the 707.  The 720 and KC are the same length, but the 720 wasn't defined by Boeing until 1957, a year after the KC's first flight.

So what is a derivative of what?

I avoid CLT as much as possible when I fly commercially.

EVERY SINGLE TIME I've had to fly in there, I've missed connections there or at the other end.  

Doesn't matter which airline or type of equipment either...

Yea, SAC had EC's at Grissom, Offutt, and Ellsworth....

Then, TAC had a handfull at Langly, Some in Mildenhall, and a want to say there were a few in Hawaii.....

Grissom had the radio relay, Offutt had the Looking Glass mission, and Ellsworth had the Missle Launch mission, with back up Looking Glass missions....

The other EC's weren't SAC, so they did a different type of mission.  Not quite sure what, because they all went away at the same time....Or there about.

Getting back to the subject of the A-320.....

Modern Aircraft, Modern problems....

Fuel Imbalance=Big issue....I Can't transfer fuel side to side on the ground or in the air....And, yes, the Airbus is a GIANT flying computer.  And, it can be a "BITCH" when you wake Fifi up from her beauty sleep in the morning.  Sometimes she does just fine, othertimes she's a cranky bitch, and I'm on the phone to Maintenance getting instructions on which Circuit Breakers to pull, and what order to push them back in.....

It's growing on me.....Unlearning the Boeing, and Learning the Bus....Same, but different....

The ECs that were in PACOM and EUCOM were for their commanders.  EUCOM had them because of their nuclear forces and PACOM because they were good long range, communications enabled aircraft.

They get Gulfstreams these days.

Walk faster next time.

Used to do this all the time, usually for inop fuel guages. Airbus=barking dog!