I exaggerate slightly for [black] humor, but the point is hanging those huge engines so far forward puts its center of thrust uncomfortably ahead of its center

I exaggerate slightly for [black] humor, but the point is hanging those huge engines so far forward puts its center of thrust uncomfortably ahead of its center of gravity, making it naturally want to pitch nose-up in flight. All the rest—dodgy sensors, crappy software kludge, no pilot retraining—is hacks laid on top of that initial flaw just to pretend it isn’t there. A lot of us here build complex systems for a living; if that isn’t a “smell”, what is? (Aerodynamically unstable design is a thing, btw, e.g. Typhoon. But that’s Military, which can afford fly-by-wire software that works.) A stable design might’ve lifted the airframe further from the ground to give those huge engines the clearance they need under the wing, keeping them to the COG and thus ensuring the plane continues to fly naturally level as per its original design. (Any air geeks want to check me on that?) But obviously that would’ve cost more, and now Boeing’s run by short-term profit chasers, not adult engineers, the attitude is “What can we get away with?”, not “What do we need to build?” That alone’s reason not to trust their bloody product any more. Not least cos what else might they be tempted to cut corners on? I mean, a shitty iPhone will screw up your day; a shitty Boeing will screw up the rest of your life. This is why Corporate Manslaughter laws should include hanging the Board by its heels.