Lu said:
By the time it gets to people like yourself the design good or bad is cast in concrete and you have to work with it. .......
Regarding your two friends at Agusta and Westland they had absolutely nothing to do with the preparation of the product assurance documents and as I stated above they had to work with the design that was presented for testing. (along with many, many many other things)
Nick sez:
Your arrogance is shown in the belief that only the devine Lu Zuckerman can do an FMEA, and few mortals could possibly understand the magic.
I was project pilot on several Sikorsky models, and worked as a member of the design team in many ways, usually before the decision to design the machine had been made. With a great team of experts, I helped set the number and chord of the blades, the electric, hydraulic and control systems design and such. The FMEA is an integral part of this, and I worked with the R&M professionals to assure proper safety in the designs, before the FMEA's are written.
I will not debate with you because you are truly hopeless, but I want the other readers of this forum to see that you are a very cynical observer and do not necessarily understand the import of what you say. In the above post, you wax on and on about a mistake that was made as if that somehow proves your point. It does not, because your point is simply wrong. Our industry is made of operators, Military services, governmental agencies and manufacturers who try in most ways to do the best, and to use a high degree of integrity to fulfil their responsibilities. To assert otherwise, as you are prone to do, is to impune the reputations of many who will never read your puny words, but who could be harmed by them anyway.
The two fellows I mentioned by name are or were of the finest in their field, and fully able to beat your pants off when it comes to preparing an FMEA or in a trip outside in the carpark. I mentioned their names because I want to assure the readers of this forum that there are no faceless individuals who hold our fates in their hands. They are flesh and blood professionals who do, as we do, their best.
I sit in breathless expectation of another long tirade from you about 1) how wonderful you are and 2) how rotten are the manufacturers, militaries and governments and 3) how much better life would be if only we would face toward you each morning and bow.
But to the readers of this this forum, please know that the world of aviation works pretty well, and that the mechanic who tightens the bolts, the engineer who designs the gears and the accident investigator who writes the reports are all trying to do what is proper, in spite of Lu's assertions otherwise.