Originally Posted by
FCeng84
Handling qualities regulations require starting from a wings level, trimmed condition and then demonstrating flying to high AOA (both by slowing and by executing a wind-up turn at constant speed) and showing that the stick force throughout the maneuver (flown without trimming) increases monotonically (i.e., the required pull does not decrease throughout the maneuver). These maneuvers involve insertion of enough aft column to go past the column cutout switch and thus MCAS must be able to continue to add airplane nose down stabilizer with the column pulled past the position of this switch.
On a side note I have always been told that trimming into a steep turn maneuver is a recipe for trouble. When you trim into a maneuver you increase your available control power in the direction of the maneuver, but reduce the available control power in the opposite direction. If you trim into a steep turn with a forward CG airplane you may find that you have to push like crazy when you exit the maneuver and level out. If, by bad luck, your trim device (horizontal stabilizer in the case of a 737) were to get stuck in the position to which it was moved to trim into a maneuver you might find it hard to get home. On all commercial transports that I know of the elevator is sized to provide continued safe flight and landing starting from any normally encountered stabilizer position, but that assurance would not be preserved if it were routine practice to trim into maneuvers.
The T-38 did not have an elevator. It had a stabilator. But in all the other commercial transport aircraft I flew “trim trim trim” worked for me. Except for, thankfully, only in the simulator, stalls and wind shear events. But in any normal airline flying you woul expect to be in trim when sht happened. We don’t have “maneuvers” but if I did I would trim if I had an airplane that required it. I’m supposing that some current aircraft don’t require trim. I could adapt to that. There might be that some guys can’t adapt, old to new, young to old, not capable to required capable.