Longest Flight

[IntheShade]

Shortly I will depart on the longest flight leg I have flown.

15+ hours

[Sickbag]

Godspeed.

[IntheShade]

Indeed

[Verbal]

By the way, what was it like your first time?

[PurduePilot]

How many crew are on this?

[IntheShade]

Very simple.

This has been by far the easiest airplane I have ever flown or checked out on. In the MD it took approximate 6 months before I was as confident as I am in the 777 in two legs. After four landings I am as relaxed in the airplane as I was in the MD when I left it.

You can tell this airplane has the excellent safety record due to the tremendous engineering that went into the design, although it comes at the expense of being a bit unexciting to fly as compared to biplanes, taildraggers, and the MD because as many of you know I am in aviation for the sport of it. I suppose the most intrigue for me is the long range aspect and dealing with foriegn airspace/country rules/ATC.

As with everything there is good and bad.

So here are my first impressions:

The MD requires a higher level of airmanship.

You can feel a difference in the flight controls FBW from the 727 and MD hydraulic controls, but in practice there is no difference in response. The 777 is lighter on the controls than either which I dislike but is very maneuverable.

The electronic checklist is superior to the older paper checklist although both pilot have backup hard copy checklist as backup.

Taxi/ground operations are a bit more tight during turns than the MD but quite easy. I have had no problems except a tendency to slightly overshoots on 90 deg turns but with experience this will go away. Also the brakes during taxi sequence axels for overheat protection. This produces a mushy feel unlike the MD which was very positive with any brake application.

Rotation rate is slightly slower than the MD but once airborne out climbs the MD easily, especially at altitudes above FL200, and climbs to altitudes higher than the MD could operate.

At altitude the 777 is quieter, faster, higher flying while burning less fuel. In addition the cockpit is easier to maintain a comfortable temperature and does not seem as prone to cold soak.

The auto throttles and vertical navigation are superior to the MD but the auto throttle clutch is not as good. Resting your hand on the throttles is enough to cause movement unlike the MD which would overcome about 10 lbs force. In addition the MD A/T and vertical speed system would put a speed ball target on the airspeed tape. This was not done with the 777 and although not critical was a good reference point.

One problem with the MD was decants. It had cruise wing and coming down out of altitude was difficult to expedite. Even with full speed brake 1500 fpm was often the maximum. If told to slow at the same time continuing the descent while slowing was almost impossible. The 777 on the other hand has tremendous speed brake authority. A clean wing still produces a slow descent rate but with full boards 4000 fpm is easily obtained. One other interesting quirk is that on the MD speed brake with flaps or slats extended was prohibited while on the 777 speed brake operation is allowed in any configuration.

Landing the MD was always a high cross check event for airspeed, profile, touchdown point, etc. In all commercial aviation it has the highest approach speed which opens a nest of snakes if not controlled properly. The 777 on the other hand is a slow, docile approach and landing. The 777 on both T/O and landing uses less runway than the MD while operating at heavier weight.

Lastly pilot workload is less on all phases of flight on the 777 than the MD. This is for many reason such as simpler systems such as fuel, electric, hydraulic. But the 777 has a very complex communication package. Frankly I am still learning it but overall seems to be a good system but not as well thought out as the rest of the aircraft. My view of this may be changed later as I understand it better.

[IntheShade]

How many crew are on this?

Two

[Verbal]

Two

But Brad knew that already.

[IntheShade]

Man I hate the "IPad" spell changer.

In the above it changed "descents" into "decants".

Simply brilliant.

[Cam]

That's pretty cool.

Joe Sutter, the designer of the 747, never liked the MD. He said it had to do with the re-design of the plane, with little changes done to the wing. I'll have to find the exact quote.

But: Congrats, Charles. Glad you are having fun.

[Verbal]

In the above it changed "descents" into "decants".

Simply brill-yunt.

Fixed.

[Verbal]

Joe Sutter, the designer of the 747....

He still visits the Everett factory periodically.

[Verbal]

You can tell this airplane has the excellent safety record due to the tremendous engineering that went into the design....

Concur.

[IntheShade]

That's pretty cool.

Joe Sutter, the designer of the 747, never liked the MD. He said it had to do with the re-design of the plane, with little changes done to the wing. I'll have to find the exact quote.

But: Congrats, Charles. Glad you are having fun.

The MD lost some good qualities from the DC10 in the redesign as did the 727-200 from the 100 and Metroliner stetches from the original Swearengen designs.

I think it's just the nature of the business.

[3WE]

Thanks. I enjoyed the report.

[Giles]

Yes, thank you for those juicy details. Absolutely loved it.

Could you also please say something about xwind handling as compared to other planes?

[IntheShade]

Yes

[PurduePilot]

Two

But Brad knew that already.

For a 15 hour flight? Seems questionable, even for the FBN operation that Charles is involved in...

Man I hate the "IPad" spell changer.

In the above it changed "descents" into "decants".

Simply brilliant.

Error #1: Buying an Apple.

[PurduePilot]

The auto throttles and vertical navigation are superior to the MD but the auto throttle clutch is not as good. Resting your hand on the throttles is enough to cause movement unlike the MD which would overcome about 10 lbs force.

That's what the armrest is for.

In addition the MD A/T and vertical speed system would put a speed ball target on the airspeed tape. This was not done with the 777 and although not critical was a good reference point.

Can you elaborate on that a little more? IIRC, you'll get a magenta box on the airspeed tape for the speed you selected on the MCP. Are you referring to something different?

[Not_Karl]

(...)

Excellent report . As 3WE and Giles, I really enjoyed reading it . Thank you!
Good luck in your journey!

[IntheShade]

Two

But Brad knew that already.

For a 15 hour flight? Seems questionable, even for the FBN operation that Charles is involved in...

Interesting. I read your question and answered it correctly.

Two crew equals four crew member, but you knew that right?

[IntheShade]

The auto throttles and vertical navigation are superior to the MD but the auto throttle clutch is not as good. Resting your hand on the throttles is enough to cause movement unlike the MD which would overcome about 10 lbs force.

That's what the armrest is for.

Really? So You would fly at the lower altitudes and approaches on the armrest? I prefer to have a hand on the throttles.

Tust me, I know what I am doing.

In addition the MD A/T and vertical speed system would put a speed ball target on the airspeed tape. This was not done with the 777 and although not critical was a good reference point.

Can you elaborate on that a little more? IIRC, you'll get a magenta box on the airspeed tape for the speed you selected on the MCP. Are you referring to something different?

Below 10,000 ft and especially during configuring you fly in speed intervention on the 777. During this the only bug is the commanded speed while on an MD11 the FMS commanded airspeed is always shown opposite the airspeed bug as a magenta ball, thus a higher state of situational awareness.

But you knew this right?

[IntheShade]

Yes, thank you for those juicy details. Absolutely loved it.

Could you also please say something about xwind handling as compared to other planes?

First the MD then Other airplanes.

Crosswind in the MD was a mash up of nearly all the problems with the airframe. For starters weight equals range. Reduce weight and you increase range, so on the MD and DC 10 the main gear were mounted rigid to the airframe u like Boeing models which are are allowed to castor slightly at the strut fittings. I can't think of the trade name right now but basically they are a somewhat cross wing gear that castors +/- 3 deg.

Be use the MD doesn't do this it is a lighter gear but the fuselage must be aligned with the runway at touchdown, meaning you cannot touch down in a crab. This requires airmanship, technique and piloting skill which is becoming more rare all the time,

Which brings out the next problem. To do a proper runway alignment requires aileron into the wind and downwind rudder resulting in cross control. Cross control creates a higher drag condition, higher drag means higher sink rate and higher sink rate requires a higher power setting. Sadly through this iteration the auto throttles lag significantly resulting in an even higher sink rate than normal. The tendency is to pitch up to compensate resulting in a nose high pitch attitude which has led to many tail strike. The way to compensate for this is to override the throttles and bump them up but this takes awareness and skill, which again is more lacking every day.

Of course all of the above is time compressed due to the high approach speed. The MD was rarely flown below 150kias at the weights I experienced. In addition the MD has a very high nose angle at lower speed which also compounded the tendencies mentioned above.

So sounds like a mess? Add in the LSAS system for pitch compensation due to the smaller sized horizontal tail. This added artificial feel and dampening that changed from 100ft to the runway. Then once on the runway you had to deal with the ground spoilers deployment which also pitched the nose up in a very abrupt rate. This also produced a few tail strikes.

The cross wing limit was 31 knots and it was easily accomplished if you knew what you were doing. Sadly if you didn't the airplane became visious very quickly as evidenced by the numerous landing accidents. The only way to land it was as follows: stabilized sink and airspeed from 1000 ft down, full crosswind correction at 300ft, flare initiated at 50ft. Anything out of these parameter was reason for a go-around.

I was in one landing accident in the MD which showcased much of the above and the weak design of the landing gear.

[PurduePilot]

Interesting. I read your question and answered it correctly.

Two crew equals four crew member, but you knew that right?

Fair enough. I suppose I could have put "crewmen" in my post to clarify, but that would be sexist (they have lady pilots--they're not that good, but they have them) so perhaps "crewpersons" would be best to use in the future.

The auto throttles and vertical navigation are superior to the MD but the auto throttle clutch is not as good. Resting your hand on the throttles is enough to cause movement unlike the MD which would overcome about 10 lbs force.

That's what the armrest is for.

Really? So You would fly at the lower altitudes and approaches on the armrest? I prefer to have a hand on the throttles.

You bet--gives a much more stable platform for texting on my phone, which is kind of hard to do when turbulence is bouncing your arm all over the place. I think we've also uncovered the reason behind your ipad typos.

In addition the MD A/T and vertical speed system would put a speed ball target on the airspeed tape. This was not done with the 777 and although not critical was a good reference point.

Can you elaborate on that a little more? IIRC, you'll get a magenta box on the airspeed tape for the speed you selected on the MCP. Are you referring to something different?

Below 10,000 ft and especially during configuring you fly in speed intervention on the 777. During this the only bug is the commanded speed while on an MD11 the FMS commanded airspeed is always shown opposite the airspeed bug as a magenta ball, thus a higher state of situational awareness.

But you knew this right?

Yes, I'm just checking up on the quality of FedEx's 777 transition program. Thanks for your cooperation.

[Peminu]

Congratulations for your achievement Charles!

Just a small tip: 15 hour flight looks like maybe going to China. Watch out that when refueling they don't put you wax, and double check (inspect) your fuel pumps for cavitation damage.