@PA - The Airbus UAS procedure is posted in the AF447 threads. And here:
http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2009/f-cp...nexe.06.en.pdf
The aircraft will not spiral dive for some time if the trimmed pitch and power are OK, which at that point they were.
Originally Posted by
flarepilot
now look up the finger laps/joints and how they would SHOW a problem if there were one...
douglas used more rivets
Hi - yes, I know. I did look things up as you requested and found a very interesting academic paper on the subject here:
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/1451308...wift_Comet.pdf
Admittedly the equations go over my head, but the prose explains it well. It transpires that Douglas's approach on fatigue was very much informed by the information shared from the Comet 1 investigation.
Now - the problem in the Aloha case was not with the design so much as it was the way the aircraft was maintained by the airline (though the NTSB stated that the airline were not to know that their methods may be problematic). It was the disbonding, re-bonding and re-riveting performed as part of an overhaul that caused greater opportunity for corrosion and fatigue. In fact one of the passengers did see a small crack before she boarded, but did not speak up as she assumed it was known about.
Additionally, sometimes making things tough is not the way to do things - witness the MD-11 hard landings that sheared the spar at the gear attachment location.