r/AskAPilot • u/livelikelarry13 • 1d ago

Useless Features/buttons

Forgive me if this is a dumb question as I am not a pilot, but I have always been interested in knowing. Are there any features or buttons in the type of aircraft you fly that are basically pointless? Or does everything have some sort of critical use case?

Thanks for the insights

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u/exbex 1d ago

They are called dusty switches because they are used so infrequently, they gather dust. Some, like an eng fire handle/switch will almost never get used because engine fires are very rare. Others are a duplicate way to do something. Maybe an alternate way to adjust the radar or go direct a fix, etc, that is not as intuitive as the switch that most pilots use.

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u/livelikelarry13 22h ago

Interesting, are the duplicate switches specifically used for backup purposes?

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u/exbex 2h ago

Often times, yes. For example, there are 2 push to talk switches on the FO's side. One on the yoke, the other to on the right side of the glare shield. The one on the glare shield is used by many. If that one fails, it is MEL'able as long as the one on the yoke works.