Special Lecture: F-22 Flight Controls

Slightly related, but there's a great hour-long lecture 1 by Colonel Randy Gordon, who's a test pilot, discussing the flight control systems for the F-22, contrasting it (a bit) to other jets, and even to a Cessna. He talks about the tradeoffs between human factors, mechanical engineering, software engineering, and shows how the software systems help the pilot. It's well worth the hour if you're an aviation geek. 1 link to this video

I recently learned that this is an issue that bomber pilots / airplanes must deal with, when they deploy their payloads. Here is a video of a test pilot giving a talk at MIT on the F-22 and its advanced flying capabilities which --as he puts it-- makes flying an F-22 actually easier than a Cessna. link to this video Apologies in advance for you losing an hour -- the talk is that good!

Interestingly, the F-22 appears to handle stuff like engine failures for you1. Perhaps it's inertia of regulations and training. Radically automating airplanes involves training loads of people. There's also certification, which is different for military aircraft than for civilian aircraft. 1 link to this video