Originally Posted by
thcrozier
"Deep Stall" has developed a second usage in the media.
The same has unfortunately happened with "FBW".
"Fly-By-Wire", as such, simply denotes using "electrical signalling" (the old-fashioned British term), i.e., using an electrical connection between the pilot's controls and the hydraulic servo-control units that move the flying control surfaces, instead of cables and rods.
Since.... it has become a synonym for hooking up all kind of digital electronic systems between the pilot's controls and the flying control surfaces, leading to the "now why is it doing that !!??" syndrome, and the mistrust, expressed here time and time again, of digital systems and software in general.
The real issue with "FBW" here seems to be with the digital part of the system... in which case reference to the "DAFS" (Digital Air Flight System) would be more appropriate... but I agree, the term "FBW" has now unfortunately become part of the vocabulary.
Concorde used FBW, in the real sense, but all of the rest of the AFCS (AP, A/S, A/THR, A/TRIM, SFC, etc.) was purely analog.
And FBW worked fine all the time... there was a mechanical back-up, which basically was never called on in service.