You are reading a single comment by @Fox and its replies. Click here to read the full conversation.
  • I was under the impression that the physical connection between pilot and plane had mostly been eliminated, redundancy now provided through back up electronic systems.

    Presumably the crank is that size so the pilots get enough leverage to be able to turn it.

  • Not on a 737! Seriously though there is no mechanical connection controlling stabiliser trim in an A320. Generally the Airbus approach is more electronic, which goes back to the A320 being originally designed as a fly-by-wire jet, while the 737 is a 50 odd old design that has had fly-by-wire added.

    It is a bit curious really, especially when you consider that a true fly-by-wire Boeing like the 777 has no mechanical linkage for trim control. But it comes back to this being a very old aircraft design.

    In Boeing's defence, physical connections aren't always a bad thing.

    If Air France Flight 447 had been a Boeing it would have been more obvious to the pilot who thought he had control of the plane that his colleague was constantly pulling back on the yoke, causing the plane to stall, because the yokes used in Boeing cockpits are physically linked. Airbus use sidesticks, which don't give any sensory or tactile feedback to the second pilot.

About

Avatar for Fox @Fox started