forgot to bid

MCAS: Keeping pilotless airplanes at bay since 2019

Vs

Airbus A350: Tempting the world to go pilotless since 2013

sailingfun

Interesting. The A330-900 has the engines moved up and forward for clearance creating a greater nose pitchup on thrust application. Airbus fixed it with software.

forgot to bid

100% FBW gets a pass.

I mean both ailerons can go up in flight on an Airbus if it wants them too... FBW gonna FBW.

gloopy

From what I've read the additional nose up (only at certain AoA, weight and thrust conditions) was so slight compared to the NG that only the sharpest test pilots could tell it was barely a thing. But since it technically was, and they wanted to avoid what would have became one more sim lesson, they backward engineered that asinine system instead to roll in full nose down trim (um, WTAF?) for either that rare and still relatively benign very slight additional pitch up moment or a single inop sensor.

From what I've seen looking into this, there was nothing wrong with the plane and the mass media talking point that it pitched up and therefore needed that MCAS system was massively exagerated and faithfully repeated. The best, most thorough articles and videos I've seen on it contradict the pop culture narrative that the engine mounting issue would somehow cause an uncontrollable tail stand that would send it into a flat spin out to sea. Far from it. Instead since it felt slightly different, it would trigger a single differences sim and there was a lot of pressure all around to avoid that.

In any case, there should never, ever, be a system that rolls in full nose down trim with a wheel you have to turn a billion times to undo with load forces too strong to even do that, all for a problem that reportedly was very minor to begin with.

The MAX will be fixed and thousands of them will fly safely for decades to come.

TED74

... particularly when the impetus can be a single malfunctioning probe?!

That horrendous risk analysis makes me wonder what other gremlins live in this and other Boeing products. Hopefully a thorough internal review is underway and processes going forward will be measurably different.

80ktsClamp

After wading through all the Baghdad Bobisms, I think you're exactly correct.

80ktsClamp

Yup. It doesn't need a redneck patch to an antiquated flight control system.

forgot to bid

I mean if it was a simple fix it'd be flying by now, right?

Imho I think they're trying to figure out how to do a major fix without admitting it needed a major fix.

So they're probably trying to find any MD-90 and 11 engineers, theyll know what to do.

galaxy flyer

The big cert issue at LCY is the requirement to fly a 5.5⁰ glide slope which means prove the plane can fly a 7.5⁰ slope to handle any poor technique, etc. Most planes go down the slope with some or all of the boards extended and even then some can’t do it and maintain anti-icing protection.

GF

forgot to bid

Also known as the MCO 18R Visual