Question about A320 shuttle aircraft...

The barking would probably be the PTU, the drilling the Yellow electric pump, and the whining would be us in the cockpit because we're about to lose our pension!

I'm not "feeling the love" from U these days. LOL

A320 Driver
 
I ride in the "back of the bus" frequently while deadheading and the "barking" and "drilling" sounds are a regular occurence. Seems to be during ground operations whether cargo door is open/closed. It is disconcerting to the passengers who hear it. I have been curious myself about the source.
 
A320,you'd be amazed by the amount of info that airplane spits out but never lets the crew know about.The aircraft decides if you need to be in the loop.Thats also why there are certain cautions and warnings that if they occur during a critical phase of flight you don't get them untill your in a less critical phase.We in maintenance have the ability to look at all this from any computer in the shop.We also can watch whats going on in real time.The coneheads monitor all this info and look for fault trends.We change a lot of parts due to the tech guys picking up a trend.Things the crew is never made aware of because the aircraft has decided you don't need to be bothered with it.Amazing stuff!
 
Hey, was Chip flying it..if so maybe it was his whining coming over the pa system about all of his woes....
 
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On 1/26/2003 11:42:03 AM Severed-N-Happy wrote:

for the entire stretch of pre take off and post landing there were bumping grinding shiffling clunking noises coming from beneath..it didn't occur in conjunction with braking and it didn't appear to be tires hitting cracks in the pavement...also the wing flaps made a lot of screeching noise as well during deployment which I was unaccustomed to..----------------
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I've heard the same noises, and they sure are unsettling, especially the randomness of them and the banging. Sounds like someone is taking apart the airplane from underneath, while you're taxiing out for take-off. Perhaps it's all normal, but not a good thing for nervous folks to be hearing..
 
A320s comments regarding the Yellow Hydraulic system and the PTU are accurate. It's a normal condition whenever the Hydraulic system is operated in this fashion.

On a separate note, as most readers know US has been contemplating changes to the Shuttle fleet plan.

Although this could change, it appears the BOS-DCA Shuttle flights may be flown with mainline configured B737s and the A320s removed from the DCA-LGA-BOS market. The DCA-LGA-BOS markets would only have A319 aircraft.

The intent is to lower unit costs, better match capacity with demand, and keeps transaction costs to a minimum.

Although no final plan has been made, this idea appears to be the leader.

Chip
 
It'll also have the unintended side effect of losing marketshare, since I know many people who fly the U shuttle because of the shuttle-configured airbus aircraft, which are nicer than the DL 737s, and worlds ahead of the RJs that AA is flying.

Where would the shuttle configured aircraft be redeployed, and would that also involve reconfiguration costs? Or am I missing the obvious?
 
Actually, I'm less concerned about the Shuttle 737-for-320 swap than I was a little while ago.

As long as the 319s remain on the BOS-LGA and LGA-DCA portions of the Shuttle, US will still compete very well against the DL Shuttle's 737s and the AA regional jets.

If US moves the DCA-BOS runs to 737s, it will still have an advantage over DL and AA, both of which run regional jets. Don't get me wrong -- I'll take the 320s to the 737s any day, but if my choice is a 737 or a Barbie's Dream Jet, I'll take the 737.
 
Why should people complain about a 300 doing the DCA-BOS run, back when it was just hourly service it was often run with both Fokkers and DC9's. As long as they keep it on mainline they will do fine.