Fifty percent composite airframe (read plastic) and its first fly-by-wire is Boeing’s new airliner aborning. If, as some speculate, Air France 447 crashed into the Atlantic May 31 because of lightning-induced electrical problems with its computers, Boeing’s robotic Dreamliner could turn into its Nightmare–and ours. But, then, with half the airline market already invested in fly-by-wire Airbus, well… There’ll be plenty of pain to go around.
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Posted in Scribbles, Weather/Climate
Tagged Boeing 787, Dreamliner, fly-by-wire
Bad things can happen when the Airbus’s electrical systems go out:
"Simply, the Airbus 330 is one of the few commercial aircraft that is completely fly-by-wire [i.e., fully automated by computer]. The Airbus 320, of Hudson River fame, has mechanical backups, but the Airbus 330 and 340 don’t."
So when their computers quit, what’s left? Exactly nothing. Not much. Except, uh, prayer.
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Posted in Obituaries, Science/Engineering
Tagged 340, Airbus A330, computer automation, fly-by-wire
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