auto landing

[ivo]

alphaone wrote:

ivo wrote:
There's nothing wrong with autoland(or the autopilot) if you use it ones in a while. But if you do an autoland on every flight you will get rusty on
the hand flying part. Likewise, if you hand fly every time, you might get a little rusty on the autoland. In FS people doesn't take autoland seriously
but in the RW its a lot more the hitting the APP button.

For one, most airlines do not allow autoland to be used so it's unrealistic. And 2, it really is pretty much that simple, just tune to the ILS
frequency on both Nav radios, engage both autopilot computers and release the controls. I've flown a real A320 sim and this is pretty much how it is.

1) Yes they do. If they don't use it, then aircraft manufacturers(like Boeing and Airbus) wouldn't have built it. Why build something noone uses? One company that I know for sure uses
Autoland(sometimes) is Martinair. There is an ITVV Video in an MD-11 and the crew performed an autoland.

2) Maybe thats how you do it. But in the real world, pilots don't just tune the ILS, hit the arm approach, sti back and enjoy the view. At certain
altitudes certain things need to happen(like specific annunciations on the FMA) which the pilots need to look for in order to make sure that
everything is working properly and the autopilot won't fly them into the ground. Like I said, pilots need to practice it on a regular basis in order
not to forget everything.In the FS world things are simple, but in the RW the are procedures which need to be followed.


Plus, if its there why not use it? It was designed to help us, not hurt us. I'm not saying you should use autoland every flight, but it doesn't hurt
using it once in a while. Its new technology, so use it because it helps you. FMC's are there to help pilots and save money by achieving more
economical flight. Every uses it. You don't happen to ride a horse to work, do you? You probably have a car? Like I said, new technology.



Post Edited ( 08-13-06 07:36 )