Vulcan
Having been glued to these pages for some hours, much to my good lady's annoyance. I have been surprised to note that no mention has been made of Automatic Landing in the Vulcan. This system was specifically designed for the V. Force to give them the ability to disperse to any airfield in fog or any limited visibility conditions. The system worked impeccably and was in fact the forerunner of todays automatic landings.
Some years following my retirement from the RAF I visited Greenham for an airshow and was permitted to go into the cockpit of a 50Sqdn Vulcan. When I began to touch the auto land switches etc My Flt Lt Pilot guide astounded me by saying " We dont know what they are for" They had never been used by him or anyone else on the squadron.
What a pity the system was not available to the crew, including Sir Harry Broadhurst when they crashed at London Airport. That story still burns in my memory.
One other thing I would like to mention is that we at BLEU used to carry out 90K approach and landings, on auto's including automatic throttle control. I am sure most ex Vulcan Jocks will give a shudder at that...I know i used to shudder all the way down.