I think Boeing is overthinking itself with the automated horizontal stabilizer CR*P on the 737 MAX!! I read the article at DM. I think the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) where the horizontal stabilizers are AUTOMATICALLY TILTED is CR*P, fraught with danger and confusion to pilots and should be done away with... Too many moving parts!
I'll bet it's that damned MCAS.
Typical, isn't it. You get a bunch of people in a room and everyone has the greatest idea to be integrated into the aircraft. And before you know it you have an overly complicated flying machine no one can recover with only seconds to spare.
I remember that flight off the coast of Calif. where the Alaska airlines with the horizontal stabilizer located at the TOP OF THE TAIL GOT ITS JACK SCREW STUCK. Aircraft wanted to CONSTANTLY LIFT so the aircraft COULD NOT DESCEND TO LAND. It flew till it ran out of gas then crashed into the ocean.
The goal is to do away with the expense of pilots. The Max was supposed to be a major step toward self-driving planes. The pilot has to execute complicated routines under stress to regain control of the plane. And Boeing didn’t tell the pilots what those steps were. After all, the guy that designed the system knew.
Not quite. The initial malfunction wanted to point the plane downward, so the pilots had to continuously pull back on the yoke to keep it level. They were trying to make an emergency landing at LAX when the jammed jack screw slipped, putting it into a steep dive. They managed to recover from that one, but a few minutes later the screw failed completely and the plane went into another dive. They actually tried to fly the plane upside down to get control, but it was no good. They were upside down and lost 18000 feet in 81 seconds before hitting the water.