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Reply To: Auto Landing

Home Forums General Aviation Auto Landing Reply To: Auto Landing

#433173
Mark A
Participant

I don’t know quite the point of the question. Auto-land from a Cat 3B type instrument approach still involves a power reduction and a flare, just that it is controlled by a computer rather than pilot input.

It is possible to set an aircraft up such that no more control input is required before touch down. This is done for such-as glassy water landings in a sea-plane. That requires a low rate of descent and a low speed to give a slightly nose-high attitude. Similar is the wheel landing on a tailwheel aircraft which is stabilised at a low rate of descent shortly before landing.

In both cases it is necessary to put some down-elevator input almost at the moment of touchdown, in one case to get the aircraft ‘on the step’ and in the other case to stop the tail dropping and the aircraft re-launching itself into the air.

The rate of descent at touchdown is of the order of 100 ft/min or less and far too low to be set-up other than in the very last stages of an approach.