Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
I mentioned earlier "Wright fliers" and that technlogy moves on. While you may not like it, an aircraft like the A380 simply would not be flying due to the weight limitations these ancient systems impose.
FBW systems don't hang off a single wire. Wire looms can be and are tested.
There are numerous pathways to the flight controls which is not the case (particularly in light aircraft) in conventional systems where failure of a single pulley means you are not going home. Ever.
All Pilots would like to think we're Chuck Yeager, seat of the pants test flying is not warranted or encouraged in regular public transport operations!
Pilot error is still the single biggest cause of hull losses, so having an aircraft that looks after you (and everyone else) works for me.
Are you suggesting our manuals are wrong? ( I could see some serious legal issues there) or that (pilot) systems knowlege is a waste of time? Sure we don't have to know how to fix a hydraulic line/EBHA but it would be remiss not knowing what it's connected to.
Maybe. But Enginners always get to go home after a bad day at the office. Pilot's don't have the same luxury and are faced problems extending far beyond the nuts and bolts of the airframe.
FBW systems offer multiple levels of redundancy, excellent protection of the flight envelope and airframe. Yet despite exhaustive testing and very safe flight histories we have a retired LAME who says they are not safe.
This is not true of non FBW systems. Sorry, I'll happily put my butt into a system that looks after me.
And if I think some rouge computer is trying to kill me, I can still switch it off.
|
Your education is FBW is a little misguided. Go an ask you head of maintenance, in a properly maintained modern aircraft if it is possible to predict the failure of ANY electronic/electrical system, this includes FBW systems which you seem to be somewhat trustworthy of. Than ask the same person if it is possible to predict failures in mechanical systems.
Outcomes; in electrical/electronic/FBW, other than the components being 'Lifed', there is no way known to predict failure - Fact!
In mechanical systems we have oil spectrum analysis which can tell you [exactly] which bearing is wearing and when we should expect it to be out of wear limits. We have the same type of analysis for hydraulic systems, so we know pump wear rates. We can measure creep in control surfaces which indicate seal wear rates in hydraulically actuated controls. We have cable tensiometers which can tell us how much a cable has stretched and when it required to be replaced. We have push-pull force meters and indicaters for 'slop' which tells us how the bearings are wearing within the flight control system. The list is almost endless.
You seem to like referring to my aircraft philosophy as some fly by the seat on ones pants stick and rudder old-school upbringing...you're absolutely clueless and seem to know nothing about what really goes on.
Mechanical systems are almost totally measurable, electrical/electronic systems can and do fail without warning. End of story.