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Old 18th Dec 2010, 18:38
  #236 (permalink)  
gonebutnotforgotten
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
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Re earlier question on what changes were made to the flap and slat/'droop' system post PI, the story isn't quite right. There always was a flap/droop balk so that if the flaps were not up, the droop lever could not be moved inadvertently or otherwise. What killed PI was that having moved the flaps up, there was nothing to stop anyone raising the droop at a ludicrously low speed. The claim that a single lever would have prevented PI is questionable - it is just as easy to retract slats early with one lever as two, you just have to forget what you are doing, as someone just proved recently with an A320. The Stan Key Memorial Mod was to add a speed balk to the slat/droop lever, set, if I recall, at a nominal 208 kt.

An even earlier post asked how it flew, thinking it might be difficult. Actually as Pete Mcclelland and others have said it was a doddle once a whole lot of cr*p acquired in early training was ignored and people went back to treating it like an aircraft. No thrust/pitch couple, little asymmetric yaw, super crisp ailerons, immaculate High Mach behaviour, and a 'classic' trim system that left you knowing exactly where you were. The only inconvenience was the position of the thrust levers (sorry, throttles) which were indeed a bit of a stretch, but that didn't stop the final iteration of Trident handling being just like any other aircraft, with the handling pilot handling (gasp!) his own throttles.

Finally despite rumours to the contrary the aircraft was not speed unstable on the approach, Vat was above min drag at the appropriate flap setting, and experienced hands could carry out an ILS hardly moving a muscle. Nothing since has come close (though I only encountered the splendid L1011 in the sim so perhaps there is room for argument, 411A).
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