Training was both challenging and fun, but mostly fun, of course. I am excited to fly the real thing. That said, I am expecting at least a month long delay before IOE.
I would say the biggest difference is how the pilot manipulates and monitors the aircraft systems.
The ERJ was designed using a 12 o’clock, dark, and auto flight deck concept. Meaning, most of the switches and pushbuttons in the flight deck are left in the 12 o’clock position, dark (not illuminated), and in the auto position.
A simple example is the anti-ice system. Basically, if the ice detectors on the ERJ sense ice accumulation, the anti-ice system will automatically turn on wing and engine anti-ice for as long as the ice detectors sense ice accumulation plus an additional 2 minutes after exiting icing conditions. While this is a very basic example, imagine this same concept applied to just about every other system on the airplane.
On the 737, for the most part, the pilots take a more active roll when it comes to configuring the aircraft’s systems for each phase of flight. It is much more of a pilot-centric airplane which makes it truly fun to fly.
