Originally Posted by
RR_NDB
Perhaps "IT people" influence on Airbus SAS Design approach was excessive.
The "IT People" (actually real-time systems architects and engineers, and among the best in their field at the time) simply implemented a set of specifications from the aeronautical engineers, who themselves consulted with pilots, in exactly the same way that electromechanical engineers have always done in aviation.
Philosophically speaking, the computer specialists only dealt with the "How" - the "What" came from the same people it has always come from.
Airliners have always been complex systems, and have only grown in complexity over time. I suspect very few pilots during the middle decades of the last century knew exactly how the Q-feel system on their Comets and 707s worked, and I'm pretty sure even fewer pilots knew how advanced avionics suites such as those on the Trident and L-1011 worked. The only difference between that generation and the current generation have been how the various systems were implemented, but this will always come up against a seemingly innate human distrust of technology. I wonder how many of BEA's "old guard" took great exception to the (then) new-fangled autoland system, for example.