Re: To the Armchair Engineers
>Evolving a design is usually better than starting from scratch
Up to a point. The problem with this plane isn't the MCAS but the elevator trim mechanism. This 'runaway trim condition' isn't new to the 737MAX, its been known about since the earliest 737s and was even described in the early manuals. MCAS was a software kludge designed to address this problem but it apparently can cause the condition its designed to prevent.
From everything I've read the underlying issue sounds lie a problem with the tailplane design not evolving as the size and performance of the plane grew. This shows up a fundamental problem with the Agile mindset -- if you don't keep your focus on the overall system it just becomes a posh name for 'gopher bashing'.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
