CoolP wrote:
Lou, I've got another potential question for you, after you (politely) got out of the fighter vs. airline pilot thingy.
You, as a rewarded Boeing Captain and also US citizen are now being asked what you think about the Airbus approach on commercial aviation.
Is "Fly by Wire" together with "Laws" something to drive you mad or will you stay unimpressed?
If you follow the videos with Bruce D., the 757 Captain, you will find him reviewing some Airbus and being quite surprised how well the stuff works.

Well, first I never flew the bus so I really don't have a full prospective on its operation, but I have an opinion.

All the modern planes after the 727 are fly-by-wire. The big yoke in the 757 or 747 is really just a joy stick. You move the yoke and signals are sent to a flight control computer to move a certain control. But, and it's a big but, Boeing's logic has always been to let the pilot fly the plane even if parameters are exceeded. I have to agree with JayG when it comes to Bus vs Boeing. There could be a time you might need to really roll the plane hard or pitch up or down big time. As a pilot I want that option. I think the woodcutter was a very good example of bad laws. As a flight instructor in the airlines I would remind the pilots that the plane never read the flight handbook and could do stuff that was not in the good book.

Computers are great - to a point. All I need to say is "Microsoft Windows" and you get the point.  :P