Renegade man - good post, however I do feel it's a bit of an airbus bashing. You have to remember that even though the airbus has loads of protections, the control surfaces still work in a normal sense. Stick forward, nose goes down. Stick back, nose comes up. There is no need to put in opposit control to stop or control the movement either, the aircraft just trims for you, so you can set the exact attitude you want then release the stick. So the stall recovery is still the same as for a light aircraft, with the exception that you may actually have to reduce thrust to remove the pitch power couple. I hope that helps you understand the airbus a bit more.