Dozy,
I could care less where the aircraft is made and it's not the technology....it's the core concept. Conceptually the Airbus does everything possible to remove aviator from aviation....right down to the name....BUS. In effect it trivializes the pilots and equates them with being a bus driver. Accordingly many are now paid like one.
TTex,
This is the core of my question/concern. My understanding is that the stall itself is a direct result of the PF's initial actions. The plane was literally flown into a stall. The elevator trim was a direct result of the pilots continued back pressure on the SS. So this creates two issues for me...
1) Completely incorrect initial response to a known issue resulting in loss of control.
2) Continued application of SS appears to be a lack of system knowledge on two fronts. Once a nose up condition is achieved (regardless of the correctness) continued back pressure is incorrect. Beyond that the maximum deflection wound the trim up all the way. Should not the PF be aware of the effect of this pressure??
To me the "autotrim" in response to stick input is another horrific idea from AB. Under manual control the only thing trimming an airplane ought to be the person flying it.
My perspective is that the PF was attempting to abdicate his responsibility to actually fly the plane and mistakenly expecting the computers on the airbus to figure things out for him. A pilot "flys" the plane with control inputs...the moment the input achieves the desired effect on attitude the stick is returned to neutral until additional input is required. As a general rule any individual deflection is limited to a relatively small range of the sticks total movement range.
How does one pilot judge anothers "airmanship"....isn't it via the deftness of his control inputs. Generally newer pilots tend to over control an aircraft via larger control movements leading to the need to "correct" their own inputs and creating a self induced scenario where they are behind the airplane.
So how does a professional pilot with thousands of hours dial in such a massive sustained control input and for what reason???