On Fri, 5 Jul 2019 16:41:40 +0000 (UTC), "'Mark Lazarewicz' via
BeagleBoard" <
beagl...@googlegroups.com>
declaimed the following:
>It's shoddy psuedo engineer's like that the caused people to be Killed on Boeing 737 max software outsourced to sub standard engineeers I know I worked with them lots of nodding and smiling no substance.
From what I've read, some test bed software, and maybe some display
software was outsourced. NOT the flight management software -- which has
been produced by GE Aviation (formerly Smiths Aerospace, nee Lear-Siegler)
for quite some time on the 737. {I supported the "BootROM" of the 737
flight computers for four years -- BootROM runs the memory/processor
self-checks, and determines which application (dataloader, flight
management, etc.) is to be started based upon external sensors (no
dataloader if the wheels are not on ground <G>). The flight software for
the boxes was produced in the cubicle farm on the other side of the
building from mine.}
The gist I have for this fiasco is that shoddy requirements were in
play -- defining the MCAS system to be a "transparent" addition to the
software (one description I've read describes MCAS as being meant to
compensate for the different lift characteristics of the MAX when angle of
attack varies. The MAX engines are so large that they are mounted much more
forward from the wing, and higher -- as a result, when not directly aimed
into the air flow (as in climbs), the engine nacelle created a lifting
torque in front of the wing. MCAS was supposed to counter that torque so
pilots "feet" the plane behaving the same as non-MAX 737 models. However,
MCAS relied upon single sensor (and apparently did not have left/right
redundancy) -- the multi-sensor configuration was "optional" on the order
form.
Because MCAS was supposed to be "transparent", pilots were not supposed
to need updated training. It was also added to the flight software in a way
to minimize how much of the flight software (most of which has been flying
for decades on 737 models) had to be re-certified...
--
Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber AF6VN
wlf...@ix.netcom.com http://wlfraed.microdiversity.freeddns.org/