Comments by "TinLeadHammer" (@TinLeadHammer) on "“Designed by Clowns!”| How Boeing’s Mistakes Led to the 737 MAX Crashes!" video.

  1. Boeing DID NOT fix MCAS completely. The stabilizer trim cutout switches behavior has changed on the MAX compared to the NG. Quoting The Seattle Times, on the NG "the left switch deactivates the buttons on the yoke that pilots regularly press with their thumb to control the horizontal stabilizer. The right switch on the is capable of deactivating just the automated controls of the stabilizer." On the MAX, "those two switches were changed to perform the same function – flipping either one of them would turn off all electric controls of the stabilizer. That means there is no longer an option to turn off automated functions – such as MCAS – without also turning off the thumb buttons the pilots would normally use to control the stabilizer. ... Peter Lemme, a former Boeing flight-controls engineer, said if the company had maintained the switch design from the NG, Boeing could have instructed pilots after the Lion Air crash last year to simply flip the “AUTO PILOT” switch to deactivate MCAS and continue flying with the normal trim buttons on the control wheel." Get it? One can use electric trim, which is much faster than manual, on the NG with autopilot/STS turned off, but one cannot do it on the MAX with autopilot/STS/MCAS turned off. Which means, that in runaway trim situation an NG pilot will have better chances to recover than a MAX pilot, who will have to use manual trim wheel. No MAX for me, I fly on 320/321.
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  2. It would not be a problem for the Airbus, as they can fake whatever feel they need on the stick - it is FBW, the 737 is not, this was the whole reason for MCAS - to provide the consistent feel.
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