Cat III approaches?

[swashplate]

Read the article in 'Pilot' a few months ago about autolands in bad weather. Could someone please tell me;

Which aircraft are cat II equipped and which aicraft are cat III equipped?

As an occasional S.L.F., I would like to get to desination inspite of fog and not divert!

I always thought that cat IIIB was 14ft decision height and Cat IIIC was 0ft. Read this somewhere. Can someone please enlighten me?

[Cough]

Briefly.. (As a guide only...)

CAT I - 200ft and 550m Visibility
CAT II - 100ft and 300m
CAT IIIa - 50ft and 200m
CAT IIIb - Below 50ft (e.g. 744 and 75/76 have no decision height, they decide once on the ground)

Types

CAT I - any basic aircraft in the world with an ILS receiver and a half competant pilot.
CAT II - 146, some OLD 737-200
CAT IIIa - 737-200ADV, all newer 737, Avro RJ
CAT IIIb - 747, 757, 767, 777, A320 etc etc

Cough

[CaptainSquelch]

Swash,

As a matter of fact it is not only the aircraft type that does it. The type is where it starts. My 737-3/400s are CAT IIIA. this was at first a surprise to me but it works OK.
Now this stuff needs maintenance so the local authorities are supposed to keep a close eye on the maint procedures.
Once you have a properly equipped and maintained aircraft you need CAT III trained pilots. This is a training and experience thing on top of the standard IF rating.
Of course you can't autoland if you don't have a proper ILS. Similarly you can't fly CAT I, II, IIIA, B or C if the ILS is not at least qualified accordingly.

That is the chain. One link breaks and you are back redoing your fuel calculations.

[Mr Benn]

And finally, it also need the airport/runway to be equipped. Most of the major airports have suitably equipped runways, and of course wind is not normally a factor, being that its normally mist or fog that causes the conditions to be Cat 3, for which there needs to be not much wind.
Not all destinations are Cat 3 certified.
So you need - aircraft fully serviceable and operating to Cat 3, crew fully certified and current, airport and more specifically runway, equipped.

By the way, just to add, Cat 3b is lower than 50 feet (often zero feet) and 75m viz (so's you can taxi the thing once you are on the ground).

[Two Bars]

Also, CAT I, II & III are not mutually exclusive. If an aircraft is engaged on a CAT III approach and an aircraft component fails, it may be possible to revert to CAT II procedures.

[jtr]

You need :A/C Certified
Crew Cerified
Airport Certified
WX within A/C and or state limits

Cat III is generally only found in Europe, Nth America, and Japan. (standing by for corrections)

[swashplate]

Thanks a lot chaps - very informative

I presume all glass-cockpit jets (737-300, 757, A320 etc) are all autoland capable within the caveats you all mention?

I can't really imagine any airline not having this capability - noone would fly with them in bad weather! But are there any?

[Two Bars]

In QANTAS, the 747-200 is certified to CAT II minima only, while the 747-300 is certified to CAT IIIA criteria. Both aircraft are not "glass" and both are approved for autoland operations.

[Portly]

Of course, you could rush out and buy a hugely expensive Head Up Display, assuming that the CAA will let you play with your new toy before it becomes obsolete! :) :) :)

PS Most modern turboprops are Cat 2 capable.