Given the upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 release, I wish it could provide us non-commercial flyers with a simulation of the flight controls under the specific events that cause failure in the Max 737.
I realize the subject isn't something a corporation would touch or code for, nor do they have a 737 in the lineup for 2020, but it would provide me with better understanding of the problem.
I would imagine, with a bit of work, you could write something for X-Plane to replicate the issues. X-Plane is pretty extendable and already has configurable failures, including pitch trim runaways.
It's good that MCAS will now disable itself without having to disable the trim motors completely. I wish they'd just taken the hit on a new type rating and given up on MCAS completely after the failures. Perhaps new 737 pilots could get training on NG and MAX at the same time?
One thing I'm not seeing much discussion of today (though it was addressed in previous posts about the MAX) is the development process issues that led to the problems in the first place. Some blame it on post-McDonnell-Douglas-merger penny-pinching, non-engineer-indulging managers. Whatever it was, the investigation should have resulted in not just plane modifications, but company ones.
The type rating is not the reason for MCAS. MCAS is there to make the aircraft satisfy certain stability requirements mandated for all planes by the FAA to prevent an inadvertent stall.
So even with a new type rating, MCAS would still be needed unless the airframe were massively redesigned.
It'd take a pretty fancy home force feedback system to be able to simulate forces in the multiple-pound range, which I think is what it'd take to give an accurate simulation.
Mind, "multi-pound" in this situation is "more force than a grown and fit pilot can reasonably exert from a cockpit seat".
I did some napkin math at one point, and the motor on those screwjacks to actuate against the Ethiopian Airlines loads was in the avenue of a 300 ft-lbs if I remember correctly.. (I only remember it was a number similar to what a car engine would be expected to put out).
I didn't know the exact gearing arrangement for the trim wheel, but the simulator footage was enough to convince me it certainly wasn't guaranteed to be practical.
I realize the subject isn't something a corporation would touch or code for, nor do they have a 737 in the lineup for 2020, but it would provide me with better understanding of the problem.