I want to say I had seen something that basically confirmed exactly this...Maybe time for me to start making sure I only fly on the A320s now.....
Interesting you mention that.
When Airbus first started building aircraft, they had a lot of subtle problems that initially prejudiced many US and Canadian carriers against them (politics also played into it). The A320 was a turning point and was the plane that put Airbus into a favorable light over here, especially with American Airlines, who was a big user of Boeing aircraft. The A320 series has since surpassed the 737 in total sales, which is less a reflection of the quality of the A320¹ than the loss of quality in the 737. The unit cost of an A320 is typically somewhat lower than that of a comparable 737 (the MAX was intended, among other things, to address that), so that, along with the slow deterioration of Boeing quality, has encouraged US carriers to look to Airbus for new equipment.
While the 757 is, in my opinion, an overall-better aircraft than the A320, Boeing discontinued it relatively early in its useful design life in favor of ramping up 737 MAX production. Evidently, the thinking was the 757, being somewhat larger than the A320, was some sort of misfit in the shorter-range market. I can’t help but think as things shake out at Boeing and sales of the MAX series continues to falter next to the A320, the decision to discontinue the 757 will be re-examined.
Meanwhile, Boeing has, as you say, apparently put profit ahead of safety. The Boeing that existed in the days of the 707, 727 and 747 was nothing like that. When was the last time you heard of a 747 losing a door plug in-flight? As for the 727, that was probably the most trustworthy jet aircraft ever made. I can’t begin to count how many hours I spent aboard those machines during business travel, never once being concerned for my safety.
Boeing needs to pull their collective heads out of their collective posteriors and get back to being an engineering-driven company that builds high-quality aircraft, instead of a haven for endless bean counters and DEI managers. Otherwise, Airbus will soon be eating their lunch in all aspects of the aerospace business.
————————————————————
¹I have a strong prejudice against the use of fly-by-wire in a commercial aircraft. I’ve seen far too many electronic failures caused by trivial situations to ever trust a semiconductor to manipulate primary flight controls. Also, Airbus’ over-reliance on computers to manage all aspects of flight has resulted in some unfortunate situations, e.g., a disastrous air show crash caused by the flight computer “misunderstanding” what the (very experienced) pilot was doing. That computer software written by a code jockey sitting in a cubicle in the relative safety of an office can override a pilot’s actions in abnormal situations because the computer (and, by extension, the code jockey) thinks it’s smarter than an airline captain with thousands of hours of flight experience is, in my opinion, downright crappy design.
So I bought the wing - a UP Kibo-X if anyone cares - and gave it its first out-of-the-box flight today. Just a short one from the winch, because the wind wasn't cooperating (it was hiding!) to make sure there weren't any obvious issues before I take it to the mountains in Slovenia in a couple of weeks.
Boeing needs to pull their collective heads out of their collective posteriors and get back to being an engineering-driven company that builds high-quality aircraft, instead of a haven for endless bean counters and DEI managers. Otherwise, Airbus will soon be eating their lunch in all aspects of the aerospace business.
Agree 100%
Quote:
¹I have a strong prejudice against the use of fly-by-wire in a commercial aircraft. I’ve seen far too many electronic failures caused by trivial situations to ever trust a semiconductor to manipulate primary flight controls. Also, Airbus’ over-reliance on computers to manage all aspects of flight has resulted in some unfortunate situations, e.g., a disastrous air show crash caused by the flight computer “misunderstanding” what the (very experienced) pilot was doing. That computer software written by a code jockey sitting in a cubicle in the relative safety of an office can override a pilot’s actions in abnormal situations because the computer (and, by extension, the code jockey) thinks it’s smarter than an airline captain with thousands of hours of flight experience is, in my opinion, downright crappy design.
Indeed, it's one thing when it's just an annoying software glitch, it's another when a life critical function is on the line. In that case, one should always defer to the human.
Why I'm not crazy about "self driving cars" either.
Indeed, it's one thing when it's just an annoying software glitch, it's another when a life critical function is on the line. In that case, one should always defer to the human.
Why I'm not crazy about "self driving cars" either.
A couple of years ago, there was a well-publicized crash in which a “self-driving” car ran into the side of a delivery van on a clear and sunny day. The post-crash analysis revealed that the computer that was processing the data being fed from a forward-looking camera thought that the all-white van was the sky. That was particularly amusing to me, in that I have tritanomaly, which affects the ability to distinguish colors at the high end of the visible spectrum. Despite that, I can definitely see when an all-white vehicle is in my way.
BTW, in order to return to topic in this off-topic post, the temperature at Furnace Creek was “only” 117º F (47º C) at 1 PM, Pacific Daylight time.
A self-driving car hit and killed a bicyclist in Arizona about a year ago.
Our temperature here is supposed to top out at about 90 today which is pretty normal for this time of year. For my bike ride, I'll be heading for the beach where it's 10-15 degrees cooler. It's about 37 miles round trip.
Meh, we've got big storm systems south and west of us pushing hot air up here; thirty-one or -two yesterday and likely the same today. I think the storm might get here tomorrow and cool stuff off. Or maybe I'll have to build a swamp cooler...
I'm reminded of a time a few years ago when the company decided I should go home from a job in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero via the New York office in December. Rio was pushing forty, and I watched the news in NY half asleep with the announcer happy about clear blue skies and temperatures in the twenties. Boy did I get a surprise when I walked out in shirt-sleeves...
Meh, we've got big storm systems south and west of us pushing hot air up here; thirty-one or -two yesterday and likely the same today. I think the storm might get here tomorrow and cool stuff off. Or maybe I'll have to build a swamp cooler...
32º C around here is no big deal during the summer.
Quote:
I'm reminded of a time a few years ago when the company decided I should go home from a job in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero via the New York office in December. Rio was pushing forty, and I watched the news in NY half asleep with the announcer happy about clear blue skies and temperatures in the twenties. Boy did I get a surprise when I walked out in shirt-sleeves...
I did the opposite one time. Company sent me to Saudi Arabia in mid-February. It was near zero (F) when I boarded the plane in Chicago for New York, which is typical for that time of the year. Changed planes in New York and got on a Saudia 747SP for the flight to the Middle East, still wearing my winter parka. Stepped off the plane in Dhahran with my parka on my back, all jet lagged, and suddenly remembered I was going to a hot climate. I must’ve looked silly as hell dressed for a Chicago winter. Everyone else was in shirt sleeves.
A self-driving car hit and killed a bicyclist in Arizona about a year ago.
Machine vision doesn’t seem to do all that well in distinguishing between background and foreground when a foreground object is small compared to the background. I would not trust a computer hooked up to a camera to clearly discern a bicyclist from background clutter. That’s hard enough for a person to do when driving at speed.
32º C around here is no big deal during the summer.
I'd kill for 32C, we start hitting the 40s around here right about now. Seems a cold front has moved through, supposed to rain all week and stick at around the 30s for while. A nice respite from the normal dryness and heat we get.
Late to the discussion, but we're getting -6° C around here overnight currently. Just had a bad patch of fog for days and permafrost, but it's a nice clear sunny day now. Southern hemisphere of course.
Currently 15C, expecting 24C later, calm westerly wind. Going to show some recently qualified pilots how to take off on a slope - they're going to the mountains at the weekend and they're only tow-qualified at the moment; the technique is somewhat different (you have to run, for one thing )
Late to the discussion, but we're getting -6° C around here overnight currently. Just had a bad patch of fog for days and permafrost, but it's a nice clear sunny day now. Southern hemisphere of course.
A small relatively uninteresting town in New Zealand, in an area we call the high country, inland with a lot of lakes nearby. Nice in summer, but the fog is not very nice in winter.
This video gives a good idea of what it is like, beautiful sunny day up above, and a strange wintery world below the fog:
We get a lot of tourists, and they don't always drive very well, there's a picture below that video of a recent incident where a bus full of schoolchildren (from overseas) rolled on the ice.
A small relatively uninteresting town in New Zealand, in an area we call the high country, inland with a lot of lakes nearby. Nice in summer, but the fog is not very nice in winter.
This video gives a good idea of what it is like, beautiful sunny day up above, and a strange wintery world below the fog:
We get a lot of tourists, and they don't always drive very well, there's a picture below that video of a recent incident where a bus full of schoolchildren (from overseas) rolled on the ice.
Always amusing when I speak with a few folks I know in that part of the world, it's like bizzaro time.
"What do you mean you're hitting 30~40C during Janua.....ohhhh.... riiiiiight"
That was particularly amusing to me, in that I have tritanomaly, which affects the ability to distinguish colors at the high end of the visible spectrum. Despite that, I can definitely see when an all-white vehicle is in my way. 
)
