Wino,
I dont want to stir the pot, or cheapen the loss of life in that terrible accident.
I have posted some information on page 20 of the American Airlines flight 587 thread that deals with the the FARs paragraph 25.351 covers yaw manoeuvre conditions, and 25.341 covers gust and turbulence loads.
Some of the recommendations from the NTSB was for the FAA to change to the FARs.
Your comment "the aircraft is certified for a FULL input at all speeds (suitably limited by the RLL) just not a full input against a sideslip. So a full input should be allowed coordinated with the rudder" is common amongst the professional pilots, however it is not correct.
As many people have suggested, seasoned pilots get used to their equipment, the A300 may have more sensitive rudders than other types, however this would only be noticible if someone is changing fleets, not for experienced A300 operators, it would be just the way the aircraft handles. This was not a factor in this accident from my recollection.
I am sure you have flown aircraft with lighter rudders again than the A300 at some stage in your career, transferring the "feel" from one to the other is not something people do, they are essentially carbon based autopilot controllers, when hand flying you have a known outcome/flight path in mind and adjust the controls/attitude to meet the outcome/flight path. Similar to an electronic autopilot you dont go around using the control forces for an A300 in a small piper or vice versa. While its agreed its sensitive, its also agreed that these were seasoned operators, and as you said the sensitivity of the rudders are well known to all at AA.
