[MR2] MR2 news from Top Gear

[Bob Schultz]

I know. there is a big difference between a car and a plane but I am sure
this is where we are heading.

 

Maybe in the not so distant future. 

I heard somewhere that Mercedes either offering or testing using electronic
brakes for their high end cars.

 

GM has is testing the GM Hy Wire prototype out there somewhere.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jHFT1X1JDI

 

The chassis is meant to be universal and the body could be swapped in like
45 minutes.

I have no idea if the concept will actually go anywhere but the only
practical way this could ever see production is using Drive by Wire.

 

 

 

 

Airplanes though, to be certified by the FAA, must have redundant systems
built in.  I'm not a flight controls guy, and don't know if their backup
system is mechanical or electronic; but it has to be there, and isolated
from the primary system.  Besides that, airplanes cost $100,000,000.  

 

Ah, here we go.....

 

loss of all flight control computers could immediately render the aircraft
uncontrollable. For this reason, most fly-by-wire systems incorporate either
redundant computers (triplex, quadruplex etc), some kind of mechanical or
hydraulic backup or a combination of both. A "mixed" control system such as
the latter is not desirable and modern FBW aircraft normally avoid it by
having more independent FBW channels, thereby reducing the possibility of
overall failure to minuscule levels that are acceptable to the independent
regulatory and safety authority responsible for aircraft design, testing and
certification before operational service.  

On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 12:49 PM, <bob-schultz at comcast.net> wrote:

I hear what you say and honestly I kind of agree with you.  
My LS430 has radar cruise but when the Yaw Sensor gets out of sync
(something like a $600 part) the cruise dies so the drive back from Yosemite
was a problem.  I think resetting the Yaw Sensor fixed the problem but I
digress.

Anyway, I have a friend who is a pilot and he told me that airplanes have
been fly by wire for years and although they probably have had some teething
problems way back then, they don't fall out of he sky that often.

Bob