Friday, March 15, 2019

The problem as I see it regarding the 737 Max 8 crashes

I was trained as a computer programmer and I was trained to fly Cessna 152s and Cessna 172s and various other high and low wing small planes.

Here is the problem of the 737 Max 8 crashes.

First, for some reason they moved the engines further forward on the planes which changes the balance point on the planes further forward than it should be.

If you think about the forward and backward balance point of a plane to be the top center of the two wings this would make the most sense. Then if you move the engines forward there would be a tendency of the planes center of gravity to move forward. However, doing this also would cause the plane to want to nose down at slower speeds (like you might have during takeoff and landings). However, because you are powered down during landings it is possible to compensate for this.

But, in taking off it could create the same problem as when a small plane pilot used to flying alone suddenly overloads his plane with his family and their luggage and often crashes upon takeoff. Why?

Because the angle of attack of the wings for a solo pilot alone in his or her plane would be completely different with a plane loaded with family and luggage. So, if they are overweight in any way or the weight is not balanced right often the plane might crash on takeoff which we witness periodically around the country and world when pilots forget to balance the weight or to actually weight their family and luggage down to the last pound and to balance it properly, especially in smaller planes the size of a Cessna 152 (only the pilot and the passenger and a small amount of weight) or a Cessna 172 (4 passengers maximum and a small amount of luggage).

So, then you add software which is literally flying the plane to compensate for the engines being too far forward. Then you have passenger planes who almost every time fly "Heavy" which means that ever seat is filled and every piece of luggage is to the max. And then you have these 737 crashes because there are just too many things that can go wrong during takeoff because:

You have moved the engines too far forward and you have overloaded the plane with too many people and too much luggage. And then the software flying the plane and the pilot have nowhere to go to save everyone in time not to crash.

You also notice that the planes crashed straight down into the ground. This might indicate that the engines being too far forward and the plane being overloaded and the software in conflict with itself all collided with a pilot not realizing that all these factors were going to kill everyone on board including the pilot until maybe 10 or 20 seconds before the crash when there was no time to correct anything.

Flying is one of the most unforgiving things you will ever do. And the single most dangerous time is during takeoff because that is when flying IS the most unforgiving it ever gets.

And this is why those two Boeing 737 Max 8's crashed on takeoff.

For example:

If you are in a small plane you need at least 1000 feet above the airport or more to be able to recover so you might land or glide into the airport or ocean or onto a road in an emergency.

But in a big passenger plane you need maybe 5000 to 10,000 feet to do the same thing. Also, in a small plane your surfaces are usually controlled by wires attached to your yoke and pedals (yoke means steering wheel by the way).

So, in order to do a "Sully" Sullenberger when he glided his plane down onto the Hudson River you need enough clear airspace and a pilot with nerves of steel in order to actually do this successfully who actually knows how to do a controlled glide in a plane of whatever size it is.

In order to glide a plane you need to have the nose down far enough to keep up your airspeed enough to keep wind under your wings so you don't just stall the wings and fall out of the sky.

Forward movement like a bird needs is needed by every plane so you don't stall the wings and then fall to the ground in any plane. And that airspeed is different for every size plane you might be in in order to maintain enough control of your control surfaces to successfully land the plane without killing everyone on board.

My Solution to the problem:

Move the engines back to a more normal position and get rid of the software problem by eliminating it entirely. By moving engines to a more normal position you don't need the software to fly the plane in the first place. So, just moving the engines further back and removing the software entirely should solve the problem. However, I'm not an engineer dealing with this problem first hand but this logically likely is the best solution from all information I have received so far.

But, there could be other information that I have not been given so far that might change my opinion in the future.

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