Real Life CRJ Comments

[jay jay 93]

I know we've got (or had) a few RL CRJ pilots on this forum.   If they are still around, I'm wondering if they would be inclined to share their thoughts on the RL CRJ.    Reason I ask is that on another site, a few people made some comments about how the CRJ is tricky to fly and has some pretty negative qualities (they didn't specify if these were handling related, system related or something else) and that overall, regional pilots vastly favor the E170/175 series of jets.    Curious what actual CRJ pilots have to say about the jet. 

[snglecoil 12]

The CRJ is my first and only jet type rating so far, so I don’t have anything really to compare it to.  But I don’t find it particularly tricky to fly from an aerodynamic sense. It’s a fairly manual plane to fly, no auto throttle, limited vertical RNAV/GPS guidance…LNAV only RNAV approaches. The 550/700/900 at least have FADEC engines so there is a little less baby-sitting the throttle settings. The 200 is a bit more hands on with throttle settings (syncing, and no TOGA, climb, cruise detents) and having to be more hands on managing bleeds and a few other things.

 

The FMS does have advisory VNAV tools available, but it is very much dependent on the pilot to fly the profile manually. It is a lot of fun. To me, it’s a pilot’s airplane where you fly the thing vs just manage the automation. 
 

The E175 is a great plane with a lot more modern cockpit and capability. I’m told it’s much more comfortable than the CRJ up front as well. My company flies both, and I’ve heard from multiple check airman that CRJ pilots have no problem transitioning to the ERJ. On the other hand, ERJ pilots tend to struggle quite a bit more with the CJR if they have transition over. That old CRJ will make you a better pilot