Originally Posted by
43Inches
I'd be very worried if an aircraft that was flown by the computer and you just pointed it where to go didn't fly right. I mean you are not really controlling these large beasts, the computers and hydraulics do that..
my bold.
A common misconception and not true.
The BAe146 was a dream to fly but you could feel the control servo-tabs struggling and hitting the end stops during very turbulent approaches, because they ran out of power and response.
Larger airliners must have hydraulics to provide the huge control forces required. So you then need artificial feel to hopefully prevent the pilots over stressing the aircraft, or you go the FBW route and not have artificial feel because the FBW will prevent you over-stressing.*
*(Note the rudder on Airbus FBW is conventional, not FBW protected and therefore has artificial feel. Conventional rudder is a safety feature allowing control in the extremely unlikely event that all five FBW computers are lost simultaneously).