Originally Posted by
Ranger One
More significantly, my understanding is that MCAS was given the greater control authority because, when the system with the original intended control authority was tested, it was found to be inadequate and still produced handling characteristics that were not certifiable; Boeing had to significantly increase MCAS authority (without properly informing the FAA of the design change!) in order to get the high AoA handling certifiable. So how can they now reduce MCAS authority and retain certification?
I'm starting to wonder if Boeing are going to have to change the airframe, not the software, to produce an acceptable solution.
From what I have read, the amount of control authority was determined by what it would take to make the MAX operate as previous models did - to reduce cross-over pilot training (boy, did that not ever fail).