Was it a Toulouse mole who suggested and pushed the idea of using a glorified laptop battery, as an essential aircrft electrical supply, thereby wrecking Boeings shiny new creation?
Presumably he will be caught and well & truly waterboarded for his efforts.
Anyone know what happened to the carbonfibre delamination of the wing root and internal wingbox on the factory fatigue 787 specimen? Allegedly U-shaped chunks of titanium were grafted in to solve the problem at the wing root!
Maybe 787 is a step too far, stimulated by the radical things being done by the 'bus' makers?
The K I S S principle seems to have been forgotten in design of not only the dirty techie bits, but also of the widgets that the poor evolved Bonobo chimp in the flight deck has to monitor and understand. When the widgets malfunction, said Bonobo has eventually to diagnose and intervene to save the day.
We are seeing many recent accident reports showing the chimp is out of touch with the shiny X-Box360 kit and shows reluctance to throw it away, disconnect A/P & A/T and fly it like the early aircraft on which the chimp learned its trade.
I was horrified to learn that apparently the "bus" has 1 box of electronics to control both nosewheel steering and mainwheel brakes. Presumably done to save a few kilos, easily negated by the arrival of the passenger(s) nowhere near the <80 kilos allowed for in the loadsheet and who we pray will not be sitting beside us in steerage class!
Step forwards management and regulators and take a rollocking for your inaction/inability in addressing these problems!!
Were any old experienced line pilots invited take part in the design phase-a basic qualification for this task should be to have spent say 30+ years flying, submitting and reading Air Safety Reports as a line pilot/trainer. Such a Bonobo chimp will end up with a more cautious and seasoned approach to what's NEEDED by the pilot community, whilst still being aware of the commercial gains due to SOME of the geeks gadgets.
