2) There is a school of thought that HUMS sees the future, and this is almost foolish in its very concept. HUMS is a very important tool, but only by connecting it to the rad alt and the fuel gage can it become more prescient, since most accidents are caused by us, unfortunately.
Well doesn't this just typify all that is wrong in SAC. HUMS was not invented here so its crap. In fact HUMS and its couterpart HOMP (aka Flight Data Montoring) are probably the two most significant innovations in flight safety in the recent past, yet NL and SAC derides them. SAC grudginly has HUMS (though I don't think its very good, certainly not learning from and building on the experience in Europe) but it does not support HOMP. So long as that attitude continues, the product is doomed to an unhappy future, relying on its certified crashworthiness to avoid too many law suits.
HC