Originally Posted by
Slasher
the 320 is a really seriously
paranoid robotic C3PO on pure steroids with a massively
humongous arrogance problem.
No bias there then...
You are aware you can turn the FMC off on an A32/3/4/80 series and it hand-flies rather well, aren't you? As I said on another thread, "C-3P0" didn't try to tell Capt. Sullenberger how to do his job, did he?
Originally Posted by
SKS777FLYER
Also, the accident aircraft had earlier in its' life been involved in a pretty significant in flight upset. So much so that AA pulled or downloaded the flight recdorder data and submitted it to Airbus for guidance. I do not know what guidance AA received from Airbus... but Airbus DID NOT share their calculation that the vertical stabilizer of the aircraft had been subjected to ULTIMATE load factor during the upset. That came out during the discovery phase of the accident aircraft legal battle.
Come on - this isn't relevant. In the AA587 incident itself the VS stayed on for a time despite being subject to loads
in excess of Ultimate Design Load, which means that *despite* this earlier incident, the VS was still attached strongly enough to stay on if the aircraft was flown within - or even slightly beyond - it's design limits. The PF in that case was attempting to use a technique designed for DC-9/MD-80 series aircraft which have a completely different configuration (rear-engine, T-tail) - one that requires far less rudder authority than the type (wing-mounted engine, traditional empennage design) he was flying.
The very existence of the B787 renders the composite vs. aluminium part of the A v. B flamewars moot in any case.
Not a pilot myself - but if I were, I'd be happy to take an office seat in either manufacturer's machine. But before I even set foot in one, I'd make the time to fully understand every aspect of how the bird is designed to work and try to discover any "gotchas" (which all aircraft have) relevant to the type - on top of any official training I'd received. The vast and sweeping majority of modern accidents attributable to pilot error these days seem to come from a lack of that kind of knowledge.