I've gotta say nottyboi, you do know aircraft and what you are talking about. Thanks for the insightful information any opinions.
MCAS's reaction to roll in more trim to counter forward stick pressure reminds me of the old autopilots that would do just that if a pilot tried to override with out disconnecting the AP. And when you let go of the yoke, or disengaged the AP when it was out of trim... would scare the shit outta everyone. Sometimes it resulted in fatalities. Training took a long time to overcome that in GA.
However, in this case, the "feature" seems not to have been well communicated. Or it is just might be a bad design from a Human Factors perspective. I don't know enough to say or think much more except there seems to ba an issue.
No he doesn't. If he did, he wouldn't be calling the 737 MAX "heaps". Airframes have long lives. It's the engines and avionics that go out of date. Lockheed has been making the C130 continuously for over 60 years. The De Havilland Twin Otter blueprints have been bought out by Viking Air, and is back in production. The DC3 is still flying and being modernized by companies like Basler. The Boeing B52 will outlast the Boeing B1 and will be closing in on 100 years old before it is retired. Same with some KC135 tankers.
You can be just as educated on the topic as he is or even myself. Just use the internet.
I've been a pilot since 1987, and have heard the Boeing vs. Airbus rivalry for that entire time. As a whole, neither manufacturer builds a superior product than the other and the large majority of airlines buy from whoever gives them the best deal on the plane that the manufacturer has made, or can make to their specification. Even though it's a duopoly, competition is intense. Contract performance penalties ensure airlines do not suffer economic loss for purchasing an underperforming model. Boeing and Airbus are aircraft corporations, not just manufacturers. You aren't just buying a plane.
Both have made troublesome aircraft or strategic failures. The Airbus A400M has had huge developmental problems and it took 5 years longer than it should have to deliver an airframe. Airbus' ego made them produce the A380 so they could claim to have the largest airliner in the world, despite Boeing's study that airline travel future was going to be point to point instead of hub and spoke. A380's running Rolls Royce engines have fan blade cracking issues. The Boeing 747 will still be in production when the last A380 rolls off the line because Boeing has a freighter variant.
Neither Boeing nor Airbus are going anywhere. They fall into the category of too big to fail. Both are essential to national security of NATO countries, which is another reason they will not fail. Both Boeing and Airbus build transports, helicopters and fighters for NATO countries and neutral countries like India.
