Posted on 05/17/2019 12:13:37 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
The 737 Max is a flawed design. Instead of building a new plane to meet the needs of a specific market, Boeing’s senior executives made the decision to upgrade the 737 in an attempt to get the plane to market sooner to prevent its largest competitor, Airbus, from securing orders for its own aircraft.
When testing revealed that the heavier engines and the forward placement location of the engines on the 737 Max created new and unsafe flight characteristics, did Boeing shut down the program? No. Boeing made the decision to come up with a software fix to force a solution to the fact that the company had pushed the original design of the 737 far past its limit.
Imagine a car company builds a new model that, due to the design, the front of the car points upward when driven faster than 30 miles per hour. To “fix” the problem, the car company increases the weight in the front of the car by 500 pounds. Technically, the car rides more level. However, due to an imbalance in weight between the front and rear of the car, the car can skid sideways when going around corners...
The engineers at the auto company create software that forces the car to drive slower around corners eliminating the issue. Over a period of weeks and months, reports begin to surface that when the car is forced to drive slowly around corners, it’s nearly impossible to steer the car and keep it on the road. “That’s an easy fix,” proclaim the engineers, and software is developed to automatically steer the car around corners...
Unfortunately, in a period of several days, multiple families are killed while driving the car, because for some unknown reason, the car decides to start steering itself without warning...
(Excerpt) Read more at observer.com ...
I have to disagree. MCAS works the same in all 737 MAX aircraft...1 AOA sensor provides input to MCAS.
The features that Boeing made optional are AOD displays on the Primary Flight Display (PFD) and "AOA Disagree" warning light.
Why Boeing made these optional is a mystery.
If these features had been installed in their respective aircraft, both the Lion Air and Ethopian Airline pilots could have prevented their crash.
Boeing's proposed fix will include the AOA displays and the "AOA Disagree" light. The MCAS will be disabled if the "AOA Disagree" light comes on.
There are some additional MCAS software changes that I won't discuss here, but have been covered in other FR threads.
IMHO, if the proposed changes had been implemented in the original MCAS design, both accidents would have been avoided...Sad.
The MAX 10 is a functional replacement for the mid sized 757. Cram in 230 passengers for the MAX 10, 239 for the 757 200. Yes, an upgrade of the 757 would have provided about the same result, while the higher wing would have allowed safe installation of the new engines.
Boeing needs a BIG RED button in the center of the instrument panel that says “Disengage auto everything” and let the pilots fly manually. If that is still possible.
He must have one hell of an ego to write an article like that. It’d be like me writing about brain surgery.
Or he must work for Airbus.
There’s no point grounding it, they just should do what Boeing should have done to begin with. Have it re-type-certified as a NOT 737.
Agreed. The article is replete with falsehoods and inaccuracies about not only the aircraft itself, but its aerodynamics, Boeing’s real reason for MCAS & the single sensor and the cause of the two crashes.
Propaganda. I don’t care what this writer has published prior; this piece is a disgrace and those who swallow it wholesale should get their estrogen levels checked pronto.
“Boeing’s proposed fix will include the AOA displays and the “AOA Disagree” light. The MCAS will be disabled if the “AOA Disagree” light comes on”
Would it be impertinent of me to ask what happens if there is a failure of the AOA Disagree light?
Automatic MCAS disengagement regardless if the light works or not I assume.
Actually, "AOA Disagree" is a warning message, not a light...my bad.
The "AOA Disagree" warning is displayed on the Primary Flight Display. Here's a pic that shows the AOA Display and the AOA Disagree warning:
I cannot understand why Boeing made these priced options.
In my original response, I called the article "opinion".
I should have used your words...it is propaganda and a disgrace.
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