Salute!
Can any MAX pilot out t here state whether the MEL covers MCAS please?
There ain't no piece of equipment for MCAS!!! GASP!
For the nth time, it is a software module in the FCC on one of the two cards there. Just like the EFS and now the SYDM boxes have migrated.
Computer chips and lines of code have replaced all the ropes, levers, pulleys and cables so many here brag about. And maybe too many here and in the media think there's a switch or ckt breaker for MCAS. There ain't. It's like a runaway aileron actuator. You can turn it off by disabling the hydraulic system, but what else do you loose?
And speaking of what else you loose, a great example of not turning off the main supply for auto power steering and brakes happened with ruwaway throttle. The fatal accident might have, and should, have been prevented by using what was available and not turning off the motor supplying the power steering function. A well known auto magazine reporter duplicated the malfunction and simply pressed hard on the power braking pedal. It took a half a mile, but he maintained control and once he got real slow he could turn off the motor and maintain enough control to stop. Brakes were shot, but he was alive.
To be fair, I am not sure exactly what I would have done in the first two minutes of the 610 scenario. I would not have thought the trim system was my main problem. If my wheel electric switch kept working, I would have kept going and prolly slowed down once flaps were up. Hell, I could look around, feel the airframe and was pretty sure the shaker was a malfunction. I would deal with that pesky trim later. After another minute of dueling with the trim I would be pretty sure the system was FUBAR and turned off the power to the motor before looking up any more procedures. Plane is flying O.K. on 75% power or whatever, and I can crank that trim wheel 50 times to get back to what we need for hands off controls.
I have only had two or three peacetime "problems" just after takeoff, and the jet was not completely out of control. For those who haven't seen it, this one was the worst.
Surprise!
Gums sends...