Originally Posted by
Hussar 54
...why wouldn't the 777 and A330 or the 787 and A350 ( more or less same range. size, possibly engines ) look and be more or less identical ?
To a first approximation, they ARE. Same basic layout, similar sweep, t/c, wing loading, and so on. Tubes with reasonably swept high aspect ratio wings, and so on. But there's a significant difference in "are they
similar?" (yes) and "are they the
same?" (no!) The devil is, indeed, in the details.
Now, there are corporate biases too - you don't vary from what you already know without good reason. So if company A has a track record with, say, sidesticks and FBW, and company B is more comfortable with control wheels and more traditional control design, then that's what you'll likely see in their next products. Because one of the design constraints isn't "what is the best design option?" but also "which design option can WE do best?"