Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 29, 2023 12:55:59 GMT 12
From The Press, 23 January 1975:
Automatic landings
(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND.
An Air New Zealand DC10 made three fully automatic landings at Auckland Airport during a one-hour test flight yesterday. These are reported to be the first automatic landings in New Zealand. Later, the man at the controls of the large jet, Captain I. Gemmell, said the touchdowns were “as smooth as you would get — you didn’t even feel them.”
“The nose was lowered to the runway very smoothly, and the DC10 ran the full length of the runway, right down the middle. The only action we took was to activate the reversers and apply some wheel broking,” he said.
Although all the airline’s. four DClOs are to be progressively tested for "autoland,” the airline’s general manager (Mr C. J. Keppel) said today that there was no intention of using the capability on passenger flights at this stage — and certainly not until a full and comprehensive proving programme was completed world-wide.
Captain Gemmell said the DC10’s “autoland” system (could work satisfactorily with most of the instrument landing systems on the company’s network, so that it would be possible to use it in Christchurch as well as in Auckland.
For yesterday’s test landings, Captain Gemmell took the aircraft to 2500 ft direct from takeoff, and then switched to the automatic pilot. This was programmed to fly the DC10 into position for an approach, and the automatic landing system was then engaged.
“The system then carried out three perfect approaches and landings,” said Captain Gemmell. Throughout the approach, the crew had, on a small screen, a visual display of the approaching runway and the estimated touchdown point — their only “sight” of the runway until they were close to the ground had it been a landing in genuinely bad visibility.
Captain Gemmell had First Officer N. Hay as co-pilot and; Mr D. Plackwood as flight engineer.
“It was a tribute to our engineers who had activated and tested the system and set up the test programme,” he said.
Mr Keppel said the airline bought the DC10s with “autoland” because automatic landings were going to be routine in the future, although this would apply first in areas with bad winter weather rather than in the company’s working area. Having flown the big jets for two years, the airline had decided to take a “small step” along that path by testing the “autoland” system after each DC10’s major annual check.
Automatic landings
(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND.
An Air New Zealand DC10 made three fully automatic landings at Auckland Airport during a one-hour test flight yesterday. These are reported to be the first automatic landings in New Zealand. Later, the man at the controls of the large jet, Captain I. Gemmell, said the touchdowns were “as smooth as you would get — you didn’t even feel them.”
“The nose was lowered to the runway very smoothly, and the DC10 ran the full length of the runway, right down the middle. The only action we took was to activate the reversers and apply some wheel broking,” he said.
Although all the airline’s. four DClOs are to be progressively tested for "autoland,” the airline’s general manager (Mr C. J. Keppel) said today that there was no intention of using the capability on passenger flights at this stage — and certainly not until a full and comprehensive proving programme was completed world-wide.
Captain Gemmell said the DC10’s “autoland” system (could work satisfactorily with most of the instrument landing systems on the company’s network, so that it would be possible to use it in Christchurch as well as in Auckland.
For yesterday’s test landings, Captain Gemmell took the aircraft to 2500 ft direct from takeoff, and then switched to the automatic pilot. This was programmed to fly the DC10 into position for an approach, and the automatic landing system was then engaged.
“The system then carried out three perfect approaches and landings,” said Captain Gemmell. Throughout the approach, the crew had, on a small screen, a visual display of the approaching runway and the estimated touchdown point — their only “sight” of the runway until they were close to the ground had it been a landing in genuinely bad visibility.
Captain Gemmell had First Officer N. Hay as co-pilot and; Mr D. Plackwood as flight engineer.
“It was a tribute to our engineers who had activated and tested the system and set up the test programme,” he said.
Mr Keppel said the airline bought the DC10s with “autoland” because automatic landings were going to be routine in the future, although this would apply first in areas with bad winter weather rather than in the company’s working area. Having flown the big jets for two years, the airline had decided to take a “small step” along that path by testing the “autoland” system after each DC10’s major annual check.
