How Competition Tripped Up Boeing - The Rush Limbaugh Show

Rush Limbaugh Show ^ | March 2019 | Rush Limbaugh

[CondoleezzaProtege]

This Boeing 737 Max 8 problem, again, just to reset this, traces back to 2011. I’ll tell you what this is about. It’s about the bloodletting that is competition in capitalism...I think the competition in capitalism is one of the great things in the design of our country, but it can lead to some things as well. But it’s far better than anything else.

What happened was in 2011, Airbus (which really doesn’t fairly compete because they’re a government entity. The Airbus plane is the result of a coalition of governments in Europe.)

But the Airbus A320 was able to be upgraded and outfitted with new engines, more powerful and more efficient engines without redesigning or rebuilding the airplane. The competition that Boeing has for the A320 was the Boeing 737-500, -600, -700 series. The Boeing 737 design would not accommodate simply upgrading engines.

If they had just put new engines — larger but more efficient engines on those wings, because it’s so low to the ground, it would totally upset the center of gravity. It would change the angle of attack. So they had to modify certain aspects of the Boeing 737, rather than go to the expense of redesigning it, retooling the manufacturing equipment and process. And they created software to handle how the airplane would behave differently during takeoff and at flight. And that’s what the MCAS system is.

...The nose gear was actually eight inches longer to accommodate the bigger engines. So it changes the elevation of the nose of the airplane as it’s flying through the air, creating the aerodynamics that are called “lift.” So because it tended to elevate the nose, these new engines and new angle of attack, they needed software on the rear horizontal stabilizer to keep the nose down.

[MeganC]

Any aircraft will descend when it runs out of fuel and you do not need an autopilot to do this.

Gravity will do it for you every single time.

[MeganC]

Thank you very much! (-:

[TexasGator]

You need an autopilot to fly level hours on end without touching the controls.

[OA5599]

Those were interesting articles. It explained why Asiana Flight 214 (”Wee Tu Lo/Som Ting Wong”) wasn’t counted.

Interesting to note that it took five years to certify the 737 MAX. Is that rushed?

Here are some comparative dates for the NEO and the (MAX)

NEO
Launch: 1 December 2010
First Flight: 25 September 2014 (1394 days)
Certification: 24 November 2015 (425 days)
First Delivery: 20 January 2016 (57 days)

MAX
Launch: 30 August 2011 - 272 days later
First Flight: 29 January 2016 (1613 days) - 491 days later
Certification: 8 March 2017 (404 days) - 470 days later
First Delivery: 6 May 2017 (59 days) - 472 days later

[OA5599]

As I understand their are two FCS, each supplied by one AOA sensor. The option was to have an alarm if the sensors were deviated from one another. Part of the fix was to make the sensor comparison mandatory.

I'm really not sure. So much contradictory information out there. (As you've seen spread on this very thread.) I should be content with waiting for the official report even if others are not. And if the MAX jets started flying again tomorrow, I personally wouldn't be afraid to fly on one.

[TexasGator]

This was from Boeing as I recall.