Excuse the length & potential ignorance;
I'm still really, seriously struggling to get my head around the specifying of MCAS & it's method of operation. It's apparently there to increase feel at high AOA, but its driving a primary flight control surface. I understand that increasing feel at increasing AOA is necessary for certification requirements & I understand that feel reduces as AOA increases in the MAX due to the additional lift generated by the larger, repositioned engine cowlings.
So, for whatever reason, MAX reaches high AOA which isn't indicated as is normal by stick feel - Pilot needs to be informed of the situation - this part seems to be neglected / skipped & dubious automation takes over & starts driving the big guy at the back. Why does the requirement for increased stick force / feel to the pilot morph immediately into a substantial control surface deflection?
I'm seeing it that MCAS is doing nothing to meet the certification requirements of increasing feel, but rather forcefully avoiding the flight regime where the certification requirement exists - "don't go there" rather than "we are approaching there"
In my simplistic terms, I have a car that has lightening steering input as steering angle increases - it makes it a bit misleading to drive & the feel isn't right;
In my garage & in an ideal world the steering system is redesigned so that it works in the generally accepted manner. In a less ideal world, due to cost or time constraints a damper or progressive restrictor of some form is added. Either will resolve the issue & give the desired feel.
In the Boeing garage, skip the feel issue & add in a hidden & complex system that powerfully steers the car in the opposite direction of what's requested when the steering angle gets high. Control this complexity from a steering angle sensor which is know to be susceptible to damage & occasional failure. This is not adding feel, its taking control & in a questionable manner.
The more that I think about this something tells me that the characteristics of the MAX in the high AOA regime may have more issues than simple feel alone - hence the utilisation of a pile driver to crack what is apparently a nut.