Originally Posted by
Video Mixdown
I too was stunned at how effortlessly stable the aircraft seems in the hover. The thing looks as though it's been nailed to the sky, and when descending it looks like it's coming down on a lift. A truly impressive fusion of mechanical, hydraulic, electronic and computer systems that appears to give its pilot so many options and advantages.
I’ll let you into a little secret - the aircraft pretty much stabilises itself and the Jet Jockey just steers it where they want to go. The same goes for the modern Chinook that went to the aid of the dams recently - that has DAFCS that effectively flies it for you whilst you monitor/adjust it.
The Digital Advanced Flight Control Systems (DAFCS) installed on U.S. CH-47F Chinook helicopters is helping pilots make safer desert landings.
The Common Avionics Architecture Systems (CAAS) glass cockpit, DAFCS "provides the pilot with heightened situational awareness and safety," said Mark Ballew, Boeing’s senior business development manager for tandem rotor aircraft. "For instance, you can plug the data for an instrument landing at a specific airfield into DACFS, and the system will execute it for you. If you have to break off a landing and do a go-round, DACFS can be set to automatically execute the go-round."
DACFS is proving itself in Iraq and Afghanistan, where 26 CH-47Fs are equipped with the system. "DACFS can help you deal with brownouts during landing," Ballew said. "You can program the system to level off in a stable hover at 15 feet, then to lower you a foot at a time to the ground automatically." A helicopter pilot who served in Desert Storm, Ballew knows what it is like to get disoriented by blowing sand during touchdown. "DAFCS was designed to deal with such problems," he said. "We’ve had a lot of feedback from pilots serving in Iraq and Afghanistan who say the DAFCS system has made their landings much safer and more predictable."
As I keep saying to those that flew 2nd and 3rd generation military aircraft - these 4th and 5th generation machines are something else. That is why they can do what they do with reduced numbers in the cockpit. However, the thinking now is what else could they do with an extra brain, set of eyes and hands/feet if they had a second seat? That is why Team Tempest is looking at ‘optionally manned’ with 0, 1 or 2 aircrew in this future aircraft (or system of systems).