Originally Posted by
rudderrudderrat
It was a good job that this alert crew invented their own "bypass mode switch".
Right - though technically that was a drop to Alternate Law, not Direct. The crew observed Rule No. 1 - "know your aircraft".
Originally Posted by
infrequentflyer789
I have always wondered why there wasn't one
Because as originally designed and certified, it's not necessary. See my previous post re: B777 force feedback.
I am pretty sure that Airbus at the time thought that contemporary engineering technology wasn't up to it.
I don't think it was a case of the tech not being up to it, so much as it would effectively double the complexity of the required software systems and add complexity elsewhere to little real benefit - again see previous posts re: fully hydraulic controls - two pairs of hands on the controls wouldn't make any difference in the way it used to.
@_Phoenix_ : The A310 has a completely different flight control system, and furthermore the pilot in the Orly incident pulled up in response to the SW. The XL888 accident grew from improper cleaning/maintenance procedures causing failure of the AoA vanes.
Originally Posted by
gums
Let's face it, Doze is a die hard engineer that designs and implements systems that may or may not have been tested or designed by the end user - the pilots.
You misjudge me - and furthermore ignore the fact that the Airbus FBW control system was designed by pilots.
...must revert to basics that we saw a hundred years ago.
Why? I don't understand this need to hold aviation development hostage to a
de facto standard that dates back to (and is derived from the limitations of) pre-WWII technology. Among other things, we've been to the moon and back eight times since then (in a lander that used passive sticks, no less).
We learned a lot about the failures of the "engineers" that could not fathom the unplanned tests we normal pilots would expose to the jet to, heh heh.
Fair enough, but remember that the lead pilot engineer on the A320 project was the test pilot who succeeded D.P. Davies (of "Handling The Big Jets" fame) at the ARB.