This is an interactive presentation

Introduction for BYP Instructors

The BYP Type Rating Pathway

Today is Stage 1 — by 4pm you'll have flown an A320 from take-off to landing.

Day Course Agenda

Today's Objectives

• Learn about the aircraft — what all the parts do
• Airbus-specific flying — what makes an Airbus special
• Inside the cockpit — screens, sticks and levers
• Take-off, cruise and approach
• Landing!

What is an A320?

• A short-to-medium-haul passenger jet designed by Airbus
• Single aisle — a "narrow-body" aircraft
• Used by airlines all over the world — easyJet, British Airways, Wizz Air…
• Famous for using advanced computers to help pilots and improve safety
• One of the first airliners with digital fly-by-wire (more on that soon…)

The A320 in numbers — tap a card!

The Airbus Philosophy

• Big emphasis on automation and computer control (fly-by-wire)
• Pilot inputs are interpreted by computers → aircraft stays within safe limits
• Flight envelope protection — the computers help prevent stalls, overspeed and excessive bank
• Sidestick control — like a gaming joystick, no big yoke in front of you
• Designed to reduce pilot workload and make flying safer

Label the aircraft — parts you know

Advanced components

Control surfaces — the moving parts

A real pilot's walkaround

Engines — piston vs turbofan

🛩️ Piston engine (small aircraft)

• Like a car engine — pistons turn a propeller
• Slower, less powerful

VS

🚀 Turbofan (the A320)

• Sucks in air, squeezes it, burns fuel, blasts it out the back
• Creates thrust — huge forward force

How a turbofan works — Suck · Squeeze · Bang · Blow

See inside a jet engine

Label the cockpit!

Session 1 Quiz — Aircraft Components

Session 2 Objective

• Lots of dials and switches — today we only need the core basics
• We'll be flying manually! No autopilot — real stick-and-thrust flying
• The key flight instruments are the foundation of everything
• Don't skip the basics — strong basics make everything else easier
• Advanced concepts come step-by-step in later badges

Welcome to the office — the A320 cockpit

The cockpit in 3 minutes

Primary Flight Display (PFD)

🕰️ One screen replaces six old instruments: airspeed, attitude, altimeter, vertical speed, heading and more.

🟩 GREEN = active  ·  🟦 BLUE = armed (waiting)  ·  ⬜ Box flashing = something is changing

👀 Pilots scan this screen constantly — it's the single most important thing in the cockpit.

Next page: explore a live PFD piece by piece →

PFD Explorer — click each part

Navigation Display (ND)

• Shows where you are — relative to airports, waypoints and your route
• Shows which way you're going (heading)
• Zoom in and out to see more or less of the world
• Shows the wind arrow — is the wind slowing us down or pushing us along?

ECAM — the aircraft's health monitor

Monitors aircraft systems, shows engine info, and alerts pilots if something is wrong. Today you need it for three things:

• Flaps — what position are they in? (In a C152 you check the flap lever)
• Parking brake — on or off? (In a C152 you check manually)
• Engine thrust — are the engines producing power? (In a C152 you read RPM)

Flight Control Unit (FCU)

• The panel on the glareshield where pilots set Speed · Heading · Altitude targets
• Each knob can be selected (pilot commands it) or managed (aircraft handles it)
• Today: just know its name — we're flying manually, so it only displays reference values

FCU — the clever buttons

AP1 / AP2

tap to reveal

Engage the autopilots

A/THR

tap to reveal

Auto-thrust — computer manages engine power

LOC

tap to reveal

Line up with the runway centreline

APPR

tap to reveal

Approach mode — guides you down to land

EXPED

tap to reveal

Climb or descend as fast as possible

EFIS Control Unit

• Zoom the map in and out
• Show airports and waypoints on the ND
• Show weather radar
• Set the air pressure (QNH) so the altimeter reads correctly

The centre pedestal

The MCDU — flight computer

• The aircraft's onboard flight management computer
• Pilots type in the route, performance data and flight plan
• Works together with autopilot, auto-thrust and navigation
• Today we keep it simple — basics only!

Thrust levers — click the detents

TOGA

FLX

CL

IDLE

TOGA — Take-Off / Go-Around

Full power! Used for take-off… and for climbing away fast if a landing must be abandoned.

FLX / MCT — Flexible power

A gentler, engine-saving take-off power used on long runways. (Detail for later badges.)

CL — Climb

Where the levers live for almost the whole flight. The computers fine-tune the power from here.

IDLE

Minimum power — engines just ticking over. Used for descent and after landing.

The overhead panel

Lots of buttons — but each panel has one specific job. Basics for today:

• We need electrical power
• The APU starts the engines — like a starter motor in a car
• Lights — landing lights, strobes, cabin signs
• Most switches should be off/dark in normal flight

The sidestick

• The pilots' primary control for manual flight
• Spring-loaded — returns to centre when you let go
• No feedback from the control surfaces — pure fly-by-wire
• When autopilot flies, the sticks stay still
• Just like your sim joystick!

What is fly-by-wire?

Try the difference yourself on the next page →

Fly-by-wire protection demo

Fly-by-wire — explained by a pilot

Today we fly manually!

• Autopilot (AP1/AP2) → OFF
• Flight Directors (FD) → OFF — raw manual flying
• Speed / heading / altitude shown for reference only
• YOU control the aircraft — sidestick + thrust levers

Session 2 so far

• ✅ Covered the aircraft components
• ✅ Reviewed the key parts of the cockpit
• ✅ Understood the flight displays — PFD, ND, ECAM
• ✅ Met the sidestick, thrust levers and fly-by-wire

Take-off — step by step (tick as you go)

Take-off challenge — nail your rotation!

A real A320 take-off — pilot's view

LVR CLB — the flashing reminder

• After take-off, LVR CLB flashes on the PFD
• It's reminding you: full power was for take-off — pull back to CL (climb) detent now
• Like changing out of first gear once you're moving!
• Pilots set a "thrust reduction altitude" — often ~1,500–2,000 ft — that's when it flashes

Managing speed — A/THR off

Cleaning up — flap retraction

Session 2 Recap

• ✅ Learned the cockpit layout — PFD, ND, ECAM, FCU, pedestal
• ✅ Focused on the sections needed for manual flight
• ✅ Performed a take-off and cleaned up the aircraft
• ✅ Set our climb speed

Session 2 Quiz — Cockpit & Take-off

Cruise — level off & hold steady

• Reaching cruise altitude → level off — lower the nose to the horizon
• Hold 250 knots
• Fly straight and level — wings level, altitude steady
• Scan the PFD and ND regularly — speed · altitude · heading
• Keep the aircraft balanced and stable — small corrections early

Control practice — pitch & roll

Session 3 Quiz — Cruise & Turns

Descent = planning ahead!

• 1 · Reduce thrust — the aircraft starts descending
• 2 · Adjust pitch — sidestick controls your descent rate
• 3 · Monitor — vertical speed, altitude, speed

⚠️ Jets are slippery! Start down early — if you wait too long you'll arrive too fast AND too high.

The approach

• Goal: guide the aircraft down toward the runway — stable and controlled
• Choose your runway and line up
• Slow down — flaps out step by step
• Aim for 140–150 knots
• Keep the runway visually steady in the window

The landing

• Cross the runway threshold at ~140 kts, gear down, flaps FULL
• At ~30 ft: flare — raise the nose slightly to soften the touchdown
• The aircraft calls "RETARD, RETARD" — your reminder to close the thrust levers to IDLE
• Touch down on the main wheels first, then lower the nose gently

Hear it live — "RETARD, RETARD"

Session 4 Quiz — Approach & Landing

Optional activities

Subject to instructor capacity — these are bonus material, not required for Badge 1.