barath_s t1_irz1wr1 wrote
Reply to comment by amigammon in TIL Boeing B17 pilots often accidentally raised the undercarriage after landing, destroying the propellors and damaging the underbelly, due to the undercarriage lever and the flap lever looking the same. by Lkwzriqwea
It was early on in engineering days. BTW, it wasn't a mechanical engineer who found the issue and changed the shape. It was a psychologist
Psychologists Phill Fitts and Alphonse Chaponis realized the issue https://medium.com/swlh/the-flying-fortress-fatal-flaw-694523359eb
> One of his major contributions was shape coding in the aircraft cockpit. After a series of runway crashes of the Boeing B-17, Chapanis found that certain cockpit controls were confused with each other, due partly to their proximity and similarity of shape. Particularly, the controls for flaps and landing gear were confused, the consequences of which could be severe. Chapanis proposed attaching a wheel to the end of the landing gear control and a triangle to the end of the flaps control, to enable them to be easily distinguished by touch alone.
In other words, shape coding was created as a result of this.; you're speking with beneift of the hindsight created.
Weight on wheels safety is a far cry from when you have electronic sensors than an era when planes had everything mechanical or hydraulic
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