Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:56 pm
#1682135
MichaelP wrote:
I would never rely on a software fix to an aerodynamic problem.
Put a tailplane and elevator on the aeroplane that is capable of ensuring stability and I would be happy.
Computerised stability in fighters, B2 bombers, and UAVs is one thing, but in passenger aircraft where aerodynamic stability is needed, they should be unnecessary.
This might have been true fifty years ago, but these days fuel efficency is the master. Tail surfaces are reduced to the minimum area, fuel is transfered aft in cruise to shift the c of g and achieve a minimum drag stabiliser angle, and artificial stability and envelope protection are the norm.
The last airliner I flew, the Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD11, was such a flying pig, partly because of the undersized tailplane, that it had no less than 4 yes 4! Longitudinal Stability Augmentation Systems, that were pushing and pulling 'behind the scenes' to make the beast handle acceptably in pitch. At least their function was documented in the manuals, unlike this latest Boeing product...