Originally Posted by
vapilot2004
So our friend M. Ziegler seems to be a bit of a Gallic Mr. Sutter...
Hmm - kinda-sorta... As you say, Joe Sutter could and did act as a hands-on engineer for much of the 747 project, whereas M. Ziegler was more of a project manager/high-level concept man.
Being a key engineering test pilot, I would imagine GP had not only extensive knowledge but indispensable feedback to offer on the system. I agree that it would have been nice to hear more from this gent, particularly (for me) the Anglo point of view on the history of the programme.
Well, as you can tell from the video, GC was very adept at showing how the technology was there to assist pilots when manually controlling the aircraft, as opposed to the somewhat mangled press narrative popular at the time - which many people took to mean that the A320 was designed to be almost entirely flown under automation (an assertion which was utterly incorrect - the autoflight system on the A320 was no more intrusive than that of the B757/767).
One of the anecdotes I read regarding GC and the A320 was that when he encountered pilots who were somewhat sceptical of the technology, he'd invite them for a simulator ride in which he'd demonstrate the protections, explain why the technology was there to assist rather than hinder or replace and give the pilots a chance to pit their reactions against the EFCS. Which would invariably if not always end up with the systems demonstrating a significantly improved safety margin and the pilots walking away at least somewhat more convinced that the technology was sound. With 20/20 hindsight I think this was not only an apt example of understanding how pilots could best be won over, but also a very necessary counterpoint to the misguided reference to concierges which BZ became infamous for.
[EDIT : Managed to dig up the reference on here - first-hand, no less -
http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/4...ml#post6117850
Partial quote:
Originally Posted by goldfish85
I thought so too. Back in the late 80s, I got into a lengthy argument with Gordon Corps, an Airbus test pilot. I suggested a contest. We would each dive at the ridge, and when I said "Now" we would each pull, me at slightly under the 3.75 g ultimate and he at 2.5 g. Whichever one missed the ridge would win.
What I didn't realize (and Airbus didn't explain well) was that he could snap the stick back to the stop and get to 2.5 g's right now. I would have to ease the yoke back and would ultimately take a few seconds. Later ALPA promoted an evaluation and found that snapping the stick right back smartly actually had the airplane bottom out somewhat higher.
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My time on this forum has been an invaluable learning experience in many ways, not just technical - one thing it has confirmed is that pilots do tend to be very protective of their professional pride and tend to react badly if that sense of pride is undermined. BZ seemed disinclined to take that into account, and the SNPL and press made hay with it.