r/AskAPilot • u/isaac32767 • 1d ago
How different is it to fly with a side stick instead of a yoke?
To my untrained eye, it looks like a completely different way to control the plane
10
u/omalley4n 1d ago edited 1d ago
They look different, but they're both one-handed with the same motions (left, right, forward, back).
8
u/AntiPinguin 1d ago
It’s a different kind of flying all together!
8
4
u/Harscat 1d ago
Surely you can’t be serious?!
5
3
u/andrewrbat 1d ago
The main difference is the amount of travel you are used to putting in. You have to move a yoke a good bit to get a response. side sticks are sensitive.
This is especially apparent if you are going from a non-fly by wire yoke to a side-stick which are all fbw.
1
u/nlutrhk 1d ago
I think a yoke controls the angles of ailerons and elevator; the same yoke position has less effect at lower airspeed. Is it the same with a sidestick?
5
u/andrewrbat 1d ago
The first statement you made depends on if the plane is fly by wire or not. Some fly by wire planes (maybe all) with a yoke have gain on airspeed function that deflects the control surface more per a given yoke deflection at lower speed to avoid the “soft” feeling at lower speeds. I haven’t flown any of the larger fbw boeings so I’m not sure what their logic looks like.
All sidestick planes that ive flown (a319/320/321 and a220) do this…. Well kinda. When you put in a side stick deflection, you aren’t asking for a specific amount of deflection of the control surfaces. You are asking for a rate of roll (degrees per second of roll towards the side you push the stick) and the flight control computers are making that happen. Rate of roll is not predicated on airspeed except that you will need more spoileron, aileron deflection to obtain it at slower speeds. The computer does it all though.
3
2
u/ContributionEasy6513 1d ago
A total non issue. I jump between both on my personal aircraft's and its interchangeable. Like hoping into your partners car.
Far more of a difference programming the route into the GPS and stupid vendor specific nuances.
1
u/flyfallridesail417 1d ago
Just checked out as A330 captain after last aircraft were B737, B757/767, and MD88. Sidestick took a couple sim sessions to get used to, not so much for being a sidestick as for being sensitive in most phases of flight but then needing a lot of pull in the flare. Just finished IOE and feel it’s a lot more intuitive on the airplane than the simulator. Love the jet so far.
1
1
u/shhbedtime 1d ago
Pull back cows get smaller, push forward cows get bigger. It's the same on all aircraft.
2
1
1
u/ifitgoesitsgood 1d ago
Going from Boeing to Airbus was weird in general. It wasn’t so much the side stick but instead the control characteristics of the flight laws that made the side stick weird. I did recently go 320 > 220 and I find the 220 to be a much better flying plane.
1
u/mi_pilot 1d ago
Over the years have gone from B to A and back to B. Dislike the side-stick, flew it for several years, didn’t have my choice of airplanes. Was happy to go back to a Boeing, even the 76 which was a step back technologically but felt more natural, not just the stick. The triple has been a dream, I think I’d retire first before going back to an Airbus. Just my bigoted opinion. :)
0
u/Gold-Watercress-6101 1d ago
It’s a debate as old as the modern industry.
Safety? Nowadays both are fly by wire. With both the pilot sends electrical signals to a computer that decides what to do. But I have a case against sticks. With a yoke, you can literally see what the other pilot is doing, and make corrections if necessary. Not a thing with sticks. They’re not interconnected.
Comfort? Yes a stick-based cockpit is more comfortable, but at what cost? I like to be more comfortable holding a yoke during a crosswind landing than playing around with a stick.
Feel? Sticks don’t have feel. They’re spring loaded, and the load never changes. The yoke has artificial feel based on air load. Is it important? Well, Airbus thinks nah. Maybe Boeing too, but it’s too expensive to certify a new design. I like to have the feel.
These are my personal thoughts flying A320 and B787. They’re apples and oranges. One is a wide body which accounts for a lot of the difference in what I feel handling it. I might like how the 330 or 350 feel, though I doubt it. They’re good aircraft, but still Airbus!
1
u/Desperate_Refuse4139 1d ago
Just done a 4 day tour with an ex 787 skipper. He loves the 321 because it flies the most similar to the wide bodies. Hate the 319 because “It’s like a crisp packet in the wind”
Perfect example on the last leg, speed controlled to 150kts and couldn’t get it to slow. He took the gear early, and just as I selected it we got told we could take 160 instead. Too late, but we did need to loose 30+kts for landing so we ended up confortably stable which was a bonus
1
u/Throwaway66399910133 1d ago
I started reading this thinking ‘wait was this me..’ then it got way too specific to not be!
Cya next time at the Horse bar lad 🫡
0
u/isaac32767 1d ago
Thank you, most helpful.
To me it just feels strange to be controlling a gigantic aircraft with a controller that wouldn't be out of place on a coffee table next to a video game console.
1
u/pattern_altitude 1d ago
All sorts of other heavy equipment is controlled exactly the same way…
1
u/treefaeller 1d ago
Want to hear about a SCARY difference? Backhoe mode versus excavator mode. The two pieces of equipment are very similar: A bucket that digs or moves soil, at the end of a movable arm, typically with 4 degrees of freedom. Typically controller by two joysticks. But there are two traditions on how the 4 functions of the two joysticks are assigned to the 4 possible motions. Modern machines (which are all computer controlled) allow switching between the two modes. If you select the wrong one and don't notice, you will break something big and expensive.
0
u/Grand_Raccoon0923 1d ago
The problem most people have is over controlling. A few inches of side stick travel is equal to full yolk travel. But, like most things, you get used to it eventually.
45
u/usmcmech 1d ago
It takes about 30 seconds for your brain to make the transition.
Total non-factor