Originally Posted by
jetblaster
...but cutting corners is what Airbus is all about and there are at least 265 fatalities in a smoking hole in Long Island that show what happens when you cut corners to get an edge on Boeing. As for design, look at the tail of the 777--it is composite, but it is constructed much differently than the A300/A320/A330/A340 tails, with dozens of attachment points that avoid metal-to-composite stress/friction points and there are titanium piers that insure that, if the vertical fin does break off, at least a stub will be left.
That's why, Daniel...Boeing does it better, safer and stronger--they recognize the FAA/JAA certification "standards" to be the "sub-standards" they really are.
Following the AA crash, AW&ST asked Boeing and Airbus about their respective approaches to the FAA's minimum design criteria for transport vertical stabs. This criteria basically says it's OK if the rudder and/or vertical stab fall of after being cycled full-scale more than once.
Boeing stated that the FAA design spec was ludicrous, and that boeing over-engineered the vertical stuff by a massive factor.
Airbus, when asked the same question..."No Comment"