Originally Posted by
safetypee
#1644: Except that MCAS does not have any ‘grandparents’.
Oh, MCAS has many famous granparents.
... It had a 727 with rear engines, that allowed the gear to be short and the wing low.
... Then the 737 antique, with the same short gear low wing design, so the engines were shoved right up next to the wing.
... Then the classic and NG, with ever larger and more powerful engines, giving a greater pitch up moment both in their thrust, their thrust line, and their forward of CofL aerodynamic effects. Now thrust was more powerful than max elevator input, and you could go ballistic if you were not careful. (Which is why the stall recovery advice says reduce power.)
... Then the Max, with even bigger and more powerful engines delivering an even greater pitch up moment.
Houston, we have a problem - we need a system to stop the aircraft going vertical, if too much power is added at the stall. Enter MCAS, stage left, to much applause and adulation. Hurrrah....! Except the new starlet was untried and untested....
As someone here said - Ford is not producing the Mk1 Cortina, with a new engine, dashboard, and a host of bolt-on fixes, because nobody would buy it. So why is anyone buying a 1962 aircraft, with new engines, a new dashboard, and a host of bolt-on fixes??
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