A 737 always has manual reversion in the event of total hydraulics failure, though this brings a whole new set of problems, but at least you have an element of control. My own opinion of manual reversion from my experience in the simulator is that it is obviously far better than nothing, but your survival is not assured. It's a terrible way to fly a plane, aiming to contact terra firma at a survivable rate!
After the JAL incident, there was some discussion on the 747-200 about being able to at least get some pitch authority back in a total hydraulic failure scenario by selective movement of the trailing edge flaps using selective selection of inboard/outboard TE flaps and alternate flap extension- inboard flap extension giving a small pitch up, and outboard a pitch down. Doesn't sound practical, but it works- in a very small fashion, we tried it in the simulator one night. Whether you could encounter phugoids with this is questionable- it is very, extremely, slow. But remember, you have nothing else but power and CofG movement- beggars can't be choosers, so you have to use what you can. I think even this ability was lost on the 747-400 and it's not possible. I think it is accepted a total hydraulics failure is virtually non-survivable.
Last edited by Rainboe; 17th May 2006 at 09:50.