ChristiaanJ
Originally Posted by
CliveL 
Sure, Concorde was the first aircraft to fly with FBW flight controls...
I thought it was the first civil aircraft, and that the Vulcan had already been there and done that...
Not quite right I'm afraid here my friend. The superb Vulcan used self-contained electro-hydraulic PFCUs, similar in concept to the VC10. The pilot signalling from the fighter type joystick to the PFCUs however was still mechanical, no FBW here.
EXWOK
Once you know how the rating selections work, enabling the throttles to be left fully forward throughout normal flight, you can draw a line to the Airbus FBW thrust lever arrangement - the detents equating to different ratings.
Mercifully no-one had thought of that when Concorde was being designed; I still think it's a diabolical system.
Oh Amen to that. Although quite complex in its concept, at least 'our' system was logical and intuitive, with full pilot control throughout.
Best Regards
Dude
