TTex your comments are way beyond my experience and understanding. I've got a bit of PPL time (long ago) but limited to 152/172 VFR. What your saying scares the hell out of me as an SLF. If I understand you correctly even under "manual" control the airbus is actually flown by the AP??
That seems at odds from what I have read....my assumption based on everything I've read is that it has all the built in AB "safety" but that within those parameters when off autopilot it is still equivalent to a corresponding Boeing model. Is that incorrect?