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what's the name of this plane?
- Thread starter nyy
- Start date
When it comes to the future of military aviation, I think there will always be a place for real pilots. When it comes to troop transport, I think that will always be flown by humans in the aircraft. Can you imagine a helo of Marines flown to an LZ with the "pilot" not onboard the aircraft? Obviously, it is technically feasible, but the "psychology" (or some other word) just doesn't work. What grunt is going to trust his life to some guy who isn't even there to suffer the consequense of his mistakes?
ghost119 said:
CAT III aircraft land "hands off" right down to braking on the centerline. The pilot has to click off the autopilot and steer it off the runway. Actual wx mins vary on operator and aircraft. Usually 50 feet DH, maybe lower. Most guys consider such approaches planed missed approaches or rejected landings because of all that can go wrong and the slim margin of error. If you happen to land, which is the vast majority of the time, it is a bonus. From experience I can say that it is generally more hair raising then flying a "normal" approach to mins of 200 feet.
It's called an autoland and the airport has to be equipped. Then the plane has to have everything working perfectly. I've done a few of these at Seattle, LA and Anchorage. Not my idea of a great time. The worst (best?) we never even saw the runway until we touchdown and the plane put the nose wheel on the ground. Then we saw 3 runway centerline lights in front of us and that was it. We had to have a truck come out and lead us off the runway and to the ramp.ghost119 said:
Sometimes it's not "that good, yet". We usually hand fly the 747-200 all the way to the runway.
I love a full, coupled, auto land approach when the WX is lousy or I'm tired or it's just a lousy day. The only trouble is, the 747-200 (i.e., a relative "Conestoga covered wagon" for advanced avionics/flight guidance system(s)) was only Cat I capable, i.e., essentially 200 & 1/2. The autopilot and flight guidance system was simply not up to the demands of finessing anything lower.
The Whale was sometimes "cranky" and you could not use it. You had to lead EVERYTHING in getting set up for the approach to have a successful outcome, (turns to final, speed control, gear/flap configurations, etc.), but if you did your part, the Whale usually did hers.
Maintenance seldom worked on the system as no one used it and therefore, there would be no MX gripes forthcoming to work on. Thus was born another aviation Catch-22: It works fine, except when it doesn't ...... but since no one uses it, it never gets fixed when it doesn't work.
Most guys were afraid of the system and didn't use it. They only did it or saw it in the simulator during training or check rides. I started using it on the line as an F/O, much to the amazement of most of my Captains. Later on many of my F/O's and S/O's remarked that it " was the first one they had ever done/seen in the A/C". I used it when I need it/want it/when it works. I believe in using everything at my disposal to get the bird from point A to B and back again. And again .... and again ..... and again ..... etc.....
I love a full, coupled, auto land approach when the WX is lousy or I'm tired or it's just a lousy day. The only trouble is, the 747-200 (i.e., a relative "Conestoga covered wagon" for advanced avionics/flight guidance system(s)) was only Cat I capable, i.e., essentially 200 & 1/2. The autopilot and flight guidance system was simply not up to the demands of finessing anything lower.
The Whale was sometimes "cranky" and you could not use it. You had to lead EVERYTHING in getting set up for the approach to have a successful outcome, (turns to final, speed control, gear/flap configurations, etc.), but if you did your part, the Whale usually did hers.
Maintenance seldom worked on the system as no one used it and therefore, there would be no MX gripes forthcoming to work on. Thus was born another aviation Catch-22: It works fine, except when it doesn't ...... but since no one uses it, it never gets fixed when it doesn't work.
Most guys were afraid of the system and didn't use it. They only did it or saw it in the simulator during training or check rides. I started using it on the line as an F/O, much to the amazement of most of my Captains. Later on many of my F/O's and S/O's remarked that it " was the first one they had ever done/seen in the A/C". I used it when I need it/want it/when it works. I believe in using everything at my disposal to get the bird from point A to B and back again. And again .... and again ..... and again ..... etc.....
We usually hand flew the DC-10 landing too. I did maybe 8 or 9 autolands in the year before I was furloughed - and those included autolands in VFR to keep the aircraft systems' certified.
To go to Cat III mins, we had to let the plane autoland. We could hand fly Cat IIs (100 ft. DH). Normally if we used an autopilot for approach we clicked it off by 200 feet at the very latest - otherwise we had to do the autoland checklist and follow those procedures and they were a royal pain. So anything above Cat II - land it by hand. Cat II - hand or auto. Cat III - auto.
To go to Cat III mins, we had to let the plane autoland. We could hand fly Cat IIs (100 ft. DH). Normally if we used an autopilot for approach we clicked it off by 200 feet at the very latest - otherwise we had to do the autoland checklist and follow those procedures and they were a royal pain. So anything above Cat II - land it by hand. Cat II - hand or auto. Cat III - auto.