Questions for any real World CRJ pilots

[happytraveller 10]

Any real World CRJ pilots who can answer a couple of questions from me ?

 

In the Aerosoft manuals for the CRJ, it says that the spoilers cannot be used below 300 feet agl.   If I am on short finals will full (45 degree) flaps but am too fast, why is it not allowed to use the spoilers?   I can only guess that it might be something to do with climb performance after a go-around, but this is just a guess.

 

Second question for CRJ real-World pilots......if a CRJ 500/700 flies into icing conditions WITHOUT having the cowl anti-ice or wing anti-ice on (and if the pilot does not see the EICAS warning)  is the CRJ affected as quickly by ice as it is in MSFS2020 ??   The icing effects in MSFS2020 on the CRJ seem to be severe and fast, but how is it in real life ?

 

Great aircraft and also a great model by Aerosoft.

 

Jerry

 

 

[Crabby 28]

First Question

If you are at or below 300 fee agl and are too fast or other wise not stable, you would immediately initiate a go around.  That is too low and too close to landing to try and correct mistakes made during the approach.  Go Around is Always an Option.  In fact I heard this the other day. "Every approach should be planned as a Go Around.  If a landing occurs it should be thought of as an acceptable alternative outcome."  Not mine but I wish it was.  Anyhow, at 300 AGL if you add spoilers you will get behind the power curve without any room to recover. 

 

Second Question

No real world pilot would "not see the EICAS warning".  This is why there are two pilots.  Pilot flying and Pilot monitoring.  How fast any aircraft performance is degraded by icing is determined by how quickly the ice is building up and in what stage of flight you are in.  If you are straight and level at cruise, you may not even notice severe icing, however it will become very apparent once descent is initiated.  MSFS's visual and performance icing is way too severe under most scenarios.  Just turn icing to "visual only" until that if fixed.

 

BTW not a CRJ pilot.  However these questions do not require direct CRJ experience to answer.  You can substitute CRJ for Cessna or Concorde here.

[F 21]

Very good answer. One little information to add for the first question. When passing 1000ft AGL (at most, if not all airlines) your approach has to be stabilized. That means: Flaps set, gear down, speed okay and on the Glide Slope. 
So in real life you won’t even reach 300ft AGL when you are significantly too fast, because you would go around before. 

[Crabby 28]

6 hours ago, F said:

Very good answer. One little information to add for the first question. When passing 1000ft AGL (at most, if not all airlines) your approach has to be stabilized. That means: Flaps set, gear down, speed okay and on the Glide Slope. 
So in real life you won’t even reach 300ft AGL when you are significantly too fast, because you would go around before. 

That's what I would imagine.  Almost landing is not the right time to make major adjustments.

[JRBarrett 675]

With flaps at 45, there is enough drag that reducing speed on approach would only require a slight reduction in power.
 

Even in the flight regime where flight spoilers are approved for use, their main function is to reduce lift - not act as an “air brake”. Ideally, descents are done with the power levers at idle. In this scenario the only way to control airspeed is with pitch. If the aircraft is not descending fast enough, the only way to increase the descent rate (without spoilers) would be to pitch down farther, but that would have the unwanted side effect of causing airspeed to increase. By deploying spoilers, the rate of descent can be increased while holding constant pitch to produce the desired airspeed. 
 

Or, if the descent airspeed is too fast (at idle), the only way to reduce airspeed would be by pitching up - but that would also cause the rate of descent to decrease. By deploying spoilers in conjunction with pitching up, it would allow an airspeed reduction while still keeping a desired rate of descent.

 

Since spoilers increase rate of descent, the very last place you would want to use them is on approach while established on a glideslope. In this flight segment, with flaps down, the engines will be well above idle, so any changes in descent rate or speed will be accomplished using changes in engine thrust, combined with pitch changes as required.

 

Most transport aircraft have prohibitions against using flight spoilers in the approach segment - often once the landing gear is extended, or once flaps are deployed beyond a certain setting. It varies by aircraft model.

 

If pilots miss an ice warning, they need to be re-trained. When ice is detected, it not only displays the amber “ICE” message on the CAS, it also causes the master caution chime to sound, and the master caution light on both the pilot and copilot glare shield panels to illuminate, as well as illuminating the ICE light on the overhead panel. If pilots miss seeing and hearing all those alerts, they should not be flying with passengers.

[happytraveller 10]

Thanks for all the replies above.... I live and I learn.   So know I know.     Thanks again for the replies.

 

Jerry

[Herman 1591]

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