Current status of carrier landings?

In article , Jeff Crowell says...

a425couple wrote:
In 1972 they were working on automated carrier landings.
What is current status?

Jeff Crowell wrote:
Coupled landings are still possible but not common--the pilots
hate them for a number of reasons, and in truth there is little
motivation or incentive to do them except in extreme need-- - -

a425couple wrote:
Thank you. Kind'a predictable. Do you have any data on odds of damage
per landing?

None, so long as the system stays up, the hook catches the wire,
the wire doesn't fail, the a-gear is set right, the (landing)
gear don't fold up, noting falls off the jet, etc.

It would not make much sense to accept for use a system in
which routine use of it caused damage. With, let it be said,
the exception of systems intended for use during casualties,
such as the barricade (which use would IMO beggar the
definition of 'routine').



Jeff

My carrier qual experience consisted of watching a squadron of Marine A6s
qualify on the Midway about 10 miles off Oahu. The best part of the experience
was riding an S2 crunched up with three others in what was basically the size of
steamer trunk.

jack595 wrote:

In article , Jeff Crowell says...

a425couple wrote:

In 1972 they were working on automated carrier landings.
What is current status?

Jeff Crowell wrote:

Coupled landings are still possible but not common--the pilots
hate them for a number of reasons, and in truth there is little
motivation or incentive to do them except in extreme need-- - -

a425couple wrote:

Thank you. Kind'a predictable. Do you have any data on odds of damage
per landing?

None, so long as the system stays up, the hook catches the wire,
the wire doesn't fail, the a-gear is set right, the (landing)
gear don't fold up, noting falls off the jet, etc.

It would not make much sense to accept for use a system in
which routine use of it caused damage. With, let it be said,
the exception of systems intended for use during casualties,
such as the barricade (which use would IMO beggar the
definition of 'routine').



Jeff


My carrier qual experience consisted of watching a squadron of Marine A6s
qualify on the Midway about 10 miles off Oahu. The best part of the experience
was riding an S2 crunched up with three others in what was basically the size of
steamer trunk.


boring...everyone knows that night carrier landings are the scariest experience.

did you know that old macdonald was a bad speller?
;-)

a425couple wrote:

In 1972 they were working on automated carrier landings.
What is current status?

"August 1972
5--A Naval Air Test Center pilot made the first fully automated
landing aboard the carrier Ranger in an F-4J Phantom II. The test
landing device links the plane's controls with a computer aboard ship
and enables the aircraft to land with the pilot's hands off the
controls. The system was developed to make safer landings at night
and in low visibility conditions."

They've been available since the 70s. Reliability sucked (I had 4
successful ones in my entire A-6 career), though newer airplanes had
better luck. There were too many independent parts to the puzzle
(radars, ACLS, ILS, Data Link, beacon, autopilot, APC...) , any ONE of
which could be a single-point failure. APC (Approach Power Compensator
or autothrottles) tended to be the weak link in the A-6, with the
autipilot close behind.

a425couple wrote:

In 1972 they were working on automated carrier landings.
What is current status?

"August 1972
5--A Naval Air Test Center pilot made the first fully automated
landing aboard the carrier Ranger in an F-4J Phantom II. The test
landing device links the plane's controls with a computer aboard ship
and enables the aircraft to land with the pilot's hands off the
controls. The system was developed to make safer landings at night
and in low visibility conditions."

They've been available since the 70s. Reliability sucked (I had 4
successful ones in my entire A-6 career), though newer airplanes had
better luck. There were too many independent parts to the puzzle
(radars, ACLS, ILS, Data Link, beacon, autopilot, APC...) , any ONE of
which could be a single-point failure. APC (Approach Power Compensator
or autothrottles) tended to be the weak link in the A-6, with the
autipilot close behind.