Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the topic of flying.
Q: How different is it to fly a narrowbody versus widebody airplane? Do you enjoy one more than the other?
A: I’ve never flown a wide body so I can’t speak from personal experience but in talking with fellow pilots who have flown widebodies the biggest difference is the weight and momentum of the aircraft. Bigger and heavier aircraft generally require more advance planning as they can be slower to change direction, accelerate or slow down. But that aside the basics of flying an airliner remain the same. It’s worth noting that while their flying characteristics are far from identical the 757/767 share a common type rating allowing pilots to fly both models at the same time.
Q: I hark back to the days of flying in aircraft like the 727. I remember well that, compared to new aircraft, there was a unique difference during take off. In the 727 there was always a momentary (10 second) period where the plane would lower its climb rate very shortly after take off before continuing a more typical one. Usually right after wheels up. I would witness this both as a passenger and watching from the ground. I always assumed it was to gain additional speed to climb faster but have never been certain.
A: I’ve never flown the 727 so its hard for me to answer that but I did some digging and found an article in the February 2000 edition of Flying Magazine written by Len Morgan who actually had a good deal of time in the jet. In it, he describes how the normal procedure if you took off with flaps 25 was to retract them to flaps 15 at 400 foot. The rest of the flap retraction was then begun at 1,000 feet. In all the airplanes I’ve flown, flap retraction was normally done at 1000 feet. Now while Len doesn’t mention it that flap retraction in the 727 at 400 feet was likely accompanied by a bit of a pause in the climb. So my best guess is that’s what you saw and experienced with the 727.
Have a question for the captain? E-mail him at ask121pilot at yahoo dot com and you may see your question appear in a future column!
I definitely wouldn’t want a pilot flying a 757 and 767 at the same time.
Would the 727 thing have to do with noise abatement? It sounds like what happens taking off from SNA or some such…
Thanks so much for answering my question on the 727. Really interesting!
@William, Can’t be as it was pretty typical every time I flew on them or whenever I saw one take off. It was wild transitioning to NG aircraft (at the time) like the 757 that was comparably a rocket. Also, for noise abatement I think the strategy is to have significant power and climb at take off like you experience at SNA.
@Mitch. ROFL. Ba da boom.
My father flew 737s, 757s, 767s, and the A330. I remember him describing two differences between narrow bodies and wide bodies, both related to a wide body’s longer fuselage length.
When taxiing to a gate or lining up for the runway, you would taxi farther beyond the center line in a wide body before you began your turn than a narrow body given the longer length between the nose wheel and main gear. This additional length would also lead a pilot to flare a wide body on landing slightly higher and earlier than a smaller narrow body.
Another difference would be that widebodies typically fly longer segments so there might be an additional 3rd pilot as an international relief officer for flights over eight hours or so, as flight lengths may exceed a max 8 hour duty day. This would also involve have a crew rest seat available for a wide body pilot to take a rest as they took turns flying.
Wide body pilots also get fewer landing versus a narrow body pilots given their longer flights so worries about staying current (getting at least 3 landings every 90 days) becomes more of a concern given the larger crew and fewer landings for someone who might be flying an irregular schedule on reserve. Wide body pilots will check amongst each other to make sure no one is is in danger of losing currency, where a narrow body pilots might get three landings in a day given shorter hops.
I have flown the DC-10, A330, A340, and 777…as a general rule, I have found that the bigger they are, the easier they are to fly and land. They tend to be more stable, less susceptible to wind shifts, etc on short, final. The biggest challenge I found was on the ground during taxi operations. You really have to be mindful of the size and wingspan when maneuvering in congested areas…on the A340-600, we had a video camera that showed the position of the wing gear, which was a huge help on Heathrow’s narrow taxiways!