Originally Posted by
tony2x
Ok so my question is not so technical but does require first hand experience of flying up front.
Are there any appreciable differences in flying the different 737 variants that AS use? My dad was a bus driver and he had his favourite buses, even down to individual examples in a particular fleet. In fact I still have the front licence plate to one of his favourites that we rescued before it was taken off to scrap.
Are the NG 737s (7/8/900) preferred to the Classic 734s?
Well according to the FAA all the 737's fly the same so when a pilot is type rated on the 737 he/she is technically qualified to fly them all. However they do fly differently.
Most of us like to fly the NGs not so much because of the flying qualities but because of the layout of the controls and avionics in the cockpit. Hey and they have two cup holders two!!! Not too many of us like the 900 since it is so darn long it takes extra care in landing and takeoff to prevent a tail strike. I've never had one but they do occur. 900 performance is always an issue in the summer it seems.
The 400s have a different landing gear. They castor so you can land them with a bit more of a crosswind and the gear will actually spin to align with the runway. They have a softer gear too so the landing can be a bit harder without anyone noticing. The NGs gear is stiffer and won't castor so till guys got used to them we had a few harder landings.
The 200s before they left were really the sports car equivalent if you could image that. They rolled and pitched fast and had tighter control from the yoke. And man could they stop with clam shell reversers.
Without a doubt the 800s are the favorite now, they fly nice and they can go forever on a tank of gas.
Finally there are tail numbers we like and don't. Not really for anything important. The older ones are, well they take more MX to keep up.