Picky Perkins, a few thoughts from one of your posts.
We know that the training departments of the airlines had strenuously opposed any mention of the use of manual trim in training for upset recovery, even though the test pilots of both Boeing and Airbus had emphasized more than a decade ago that bringing the a/c into trim was in their opinion the first priority in a recovery ...if the crew had had upset recovery training (as distinct from training to recover from an approach to a stall) the use of manual trim would not have even been mentioned, and they may even had had warnings against its use (because of the danger of structural damage).
They followed their training, which in part told them to forget what they were told in primary training, particularly WRT stalls. They were never trained to use manual trim. It wasn’t even mentioned
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FWIW: one of our posters (Mikelour) taught in the A330 sim. He has told us that there were/are some Unusual Attitude training scenarios where use of trim wheel was included. Is not Unusual Attitude related to Upset?
QUESTION: Being a French crew for a French airline and knowing that any deviation from training and SOP might be investigated by a French Court, might they have been inhibited from deviating from training and/or SOP in case they might be blamed for any subsequent damage?
Possible cultural factor. Whose gonna own up to that one? (Do I hear crickets chirping?)
When I say that some jets enter the stall gracefully, I don't mean you can't feel SOMETHING. But with the storms and such, and the "bus great aero, the buffet could have been masked. From a pilot perspective flying at conditions unheard of in the heavies, I learned when a buffet meant "close to stall", or "prolly in a stall", or whoa!!!
I had many students that could not "feel" the increase in buffet as I could. Bothered me, but some have "touch" and some don't.
This point appears worth repeating.
An AoA gauge might have been useful secondary scan instrument ... *ducks*
EDIT: I'd like to address a point in terminology.
Typically, an aircraft has primary flight controls and secondary flight controls. Aileron, rudder, or elevator, (primary) often have a trim surface (secondary) that allows you to influence the primary.
(Other secondary are: flaps, slats, spoilers, speed brakes ... which change air flow over a wing). (Thought: aren't spoilers sometimes in the role of primary flight control at high speeds and high altitudes?)
The relationship between the THS and the Elevator on this aircraft looks similar to how a trim surface on a conventional elevator (with fixed Horizontal Stab) influences elevator position.
THS is thus a primary flight control. Or is it? Initial control deflection of the stick moves the elevators (so the elevators are a primary flight control).
Does this make THS a secondary flight control?
Well, if one is controlling the nose with the trim wheel, THS becomes the primary flight control surface.
I may be trapping myself in archaic terminology here.
Can someone help me see this more clearly?