Originally posted by Evan and Gabe
We don't know exactly how it happens but wings push air down so the plane stays up.
Fancy fan systems shove the plane forward.
Tail planes point it where it needs to go.
We have very unstable fighter planes where the computer stays ahead of the instability and the plane flies straight forward.
We have Airbi (which apparently have some inherent stability) but computers blank out direct connections and phugoid behavior making the joystick function a bit like a game (Nevertheless, ATL get's to put in the perfect bank and nose attitudes to nail whatever visual landings he wants.)
Yeah, Boeing made a kludge so the plane that's older than the 757 could have an engine that would have fit under a 757...
But why all the kludginess? I'm thinking the from-scratch new planes (787, 777, Airbi) are TONS simpler than DC-4's, 707s, and Cape Air Cessna 421s.
Sure, the plane as a whole is actually more complex, but I have to believe that the base aircraft and critical systems will not be getting that much more complicated.
Finally- how about the WTF navigation system...I guess there's a whole other area of genius the Bobby and ATL have that we will never know...and here's also where the interface of the old human way and modern computer stuff remains interesting...
We are already automatically uploading in-route portions of the flight plan. There may be some "last minute" (note quotes) departure and traffic vectors and runway changes...but really how soon until a COMPUTER is doing ATC, and talking to the airplane and telling it what to do?
Being serious- yeah, sure, I hope a pilot with good fundamentals is watching it all, and dittos at the radar screen...and maybe we let pilots touch the plane and do a little flying to stay current.
But, hopefully we are designing really big 172s...not exactly 172s, but super critical efficient designs, maybe they NEED FBW stability because the horizontal stabilizer is LIFT source...super duper fancy engines...but the rest is just airfoils and control flaps, some navigation and collision avoidance...what is the safety or economic benefit of additional complication?
As to the lubricating oil pressure on the Lav#6 left side toilet seat hinge...I think the engineers will keep it wired separately from the AOA indicator (which maybe we won't have anyway- they mostly seem to break and cause confusion to computers as much as people). (Then again, I'm not sure I trust engineers- I once read "Fate is the Hunter")
The 737 may be the exception but conversely, ERJ's and CRJ's may be the example of "the new simplicity"(and some of them lack auto throttles)
Originally posted by Boeing Bobby
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