I'm a Boeing guy and I've eventually decided to learn to fly the Fenix A320. Oh man, what a pain. No LNAV VNAV but instead push or pull buttons, AOC Menu, AOC Functions, etc. Completely different logic of navigating in the FMC (FMGS!). Yeah, I really have the impression that the A320 has been designed by engineers while Boeing was designed by engineer pilots... I for one know that every new area has its own langage and logic and that when the brain is wired in certain way, it takes effort to un-wire it, but still... 😅 I'm about to reach the middle of the river but not sure if I want to make the additional effort to reach the shore ahead.

Do you fly only Boeing or only Airbus? If you fly both I would be insterested to know with which one you started and how was went the learning of the other type.

You're very early in a journey that will see you enjoy both Boeing and Airbus's flight management philosophies. Both are great and provide interesting contrast. If you go into learning the Airbus with a fixed Boeing "LNAV/VNAV" mindset, it'll be harder for you. You need to unlearn the Boeing philosophy and you'll soon find the Airbus approach refreshing, intuitive and quite straightforward. There are still LNAV and VNAV provisions/analogues in the Airbus; think of it that they're simply already armed.

I suggest you watch a lot of YouTube videos and tutorials on the Fenix. You won't get along well in the learning process if you just try to find your way and adopt the Boeing approach as your yardstick.

Many thanks for your advice Bill. Much appreciated!

Yeah I am aware I have to unlearn things.

"There are still LNAV and VNAV provisions/analogues in the Airbus": good and rassuring to know.

" they're simply already armed": oh I was not aware of that, so far I pushed the knob (to give control to the A/C or to arm it).

I've started to watch videos but as per your advice I'll watch more.

Make sure you adhere to the standard Airbus flows and checklists, and you will appreciate how well designed the systems are and how quickly the cockpit can be set up.

I was 100% PDMG but after hearing so much about the Fenix, I went for it. Not going to lie, it took a couple of months before got the hang of it. Everything Airbus does is completely different than Boeing's process. That said, Airbus, while different, has a very logical layout and if you stick with it, it will soon be second nature. From a tech standpoint, it's truly amazing how superior Airbus is to the Dino-Jet. Watch some vids on Youtube and keep at it, you'll be glad you did.

@11bee So you were like me 😀Many thanks for your testimonial and return on experience! Much appreciated.

1 hour ago, Simicro said:

Many thanks for your advice Bill. Much appreciated!

Yeah I am aware I have to unlearn things.

"There are still LNAV and VNAV provisions/analogues in the Airbus": good and rassuring to know.

" they're simply already armed": oh I was not aware of that, so far I pushed the knob (to give control to the A/C or to arm it).

I've started to watch videos but as per your advice I'll watch more.

Awesome!

I'll expand a little more on what I meant by thinking of the LNAV/VNAV as being 'already armed' :-

So in the A320, prior to take off, your default flight director modes will mean that the aircraft will follow the FMS course (like LNAV) by default. If you want to take off with heading mode in the Airbus, you actually have to take an action and pull the heading knob. So that's quite different to Boeing, where flight director modes are passive and you'd need to select a mode before take off, to get the required guidance.

The same applies for 'VNAV'. With the default flight director modes at take off, the aircraft will transition from it's 'TOGA' model (called 'SRS') straight into a managed climb, which is Airbus-speak for VNAV. If you wanted to use an alternative vertical mode, like VS, an action would be needed to come out of the managed mode and into a selected mode.

What this means in practice is that, when the aircraft is set up for departure, you've entered a SID and you have turned on the flight directors, there's less you need to do - the aircraft is 'already armed and ready' for a managed departure (ie. LNAV/VNAV).

The Airbus has it's own solution for Flight Level Change (FLCH, IAS) too. You need to pull the altitude knob. This will take the aircraft out of managed climb (eg. VNAV) and into 'selected climb' (eg, FLCH), where it will ignore altitude constraints and simply climb according to it's reference airspeed. There is one difference between Boeing's "FLCH mode" and Airbus's "Selected climb mode" and that is that, the Airbus will automatically transition to a higher airspeed, above 10,000 feet. Boeing's FLCH will not. For example if you have 250kts set in the Boeing in FLCH mode, and pass 10,000 feet, the Boeing will maintain that 250 kts climb (and the pilot will need to increase it). In Airbus 'selected climb mode' (FLCH), the aircraft will automatically accelerate to a higher climb speed, according to the performance data that the pilot has programmed into the MCDU (FMS).

The autothrottle works differently on the Airbus - it's engaged automatically when the throttles are moved into the TOGA or FLEX position. In most airlines, it will remain engaged until the pilot retards the throttles for touchdown.

Have fun!

I fly both. Started with Boeing, and when I made my first forays into Airbus land, I had a similar reaction to you. It all felt unfamiliar and illogical. "This makes no sense. What were they thinking?" Now that I've been flying Airbus for a while, it seems at least as ergonomic and pilot-friendly as Boeing.

Regarding the "push/pull" logic, it makes a lot of sense if you think of it as: Push towards the airplane = "I'm giving you control." Pull towards me = "I'm taking control".

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by weaklink

42 minutes ago, JYW said:

There is one difference between Boeing's "FLCH mode" and Airbus's "Selected climb mode" and that is that, the Airbus will automatically transition to a higher airspeed, above 10,000 feet. Boeing's FLCH will not.

May be worth pointing out the key difference in philosophy here: Boeing's VNAV is a mode where the automation is "managing" both the vertical path and the speed, whereas Airbus allows the pilot to choose individually whether they want the automation to "manage" the vertical path and/or the speed (by pushing the respective knob) or whether they want to "select" what the vertical path and/or speed should be (by pulling the knob).

So you can have the following combinations:

Speed selected / altitude selected = Boeing FL CH

Speed managed / altitude managed = Boeing VNAV

Speed selected / altitude managed = Boeing VNAV with speed intervene

Speed managed / altitude selected = Does not exist on Boeing as far as I am aware

To me, it's actually a bit more logical that you can independently select how you want speed and vertical path to be handled.

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by weaklink

I have two separate sim computers. One is for Boeings and the other is for Airbuses. I have all the Wnctrl hardware for both. I jump from one to the other every couple of days, so I haven't had to unlearn anything. I was a Boeing pilot for 25 years in the real world, so there was definitely a learning curve involved, but since I have access to the Airbus flight manuals, it was fairly easy to transition. My only issue seems to be with landings. The Fenix Airbus seems to drift sideways on touchdown. This doesn't happen with my Boeing sim. Since I've never seen any comments on this, it's probably something on my end. Fenix and Airbus make some nice products.

Thank you everyone for your participation, testimonials and advices 😀

Don't think its been mentioned, but you don't use elevator trim on the bus, when flying manually, just pitch and turn as required, if you leave go of the controls, it should just stay there. I also found the Boeing to Airbus transition a steep learning curve, and although I can use the MCDU for all the basics, never got into the fancier things.

But if you make full use of all the automatics, it is the easier jet to fly.