Originally Posted by
TTex600
The 320 was and is a techno marvel, but continued development would appear to be lacking.
That's not strictly true. Development and refinement of the FBW systems has continued significantly in the 24 years since the aircraft went into service, but there are limits to how much can be altered with the A320 itself without breaking type commonality. Hence the A320NEO programme, presumably.
As Chris Scott alluded to earlier, the fact that the original A320 was subject to later and more stringent certification requirements than the original B737 - along with the fact that it was designed around a more modern control and avionics setup - should mean that more significant changes can be applied to the NEO than were possible with the NG.
That said, so much preparatory work went into R&D of the systems that ended up in the original A320 (much of which significantly pre-dated the official project inauguration in 1982) that the groundwork it laid out was correct and proven (in engineering terms) to a degree that was unprecedented at the time. Also, because of the digital nature of the flight systems, a lot of work went on "under the hood" in the years between then and now that would not be obvious to those who weren't inclined to dig deep enough to find out.
TTex, not a Boeing fan either. I'd rather sweat in a DC9.
Interesting how people gravitate to different types. Maybe I'm of the wrong generation, but the DC9 always struck me as a bit flimsy in appearance and backward in engineering terms. This could also be coloured by my soft spot for the BAC 1-11 (which I thought was a lovely design and built like it was hewn from granite but let down by the choice of engine).
