Vulcan Autoland
Reply to John Farley
One thing I would wish to confirm...Without Auto Land and Auto Throttle I do not think I would have been capable of 9o Kts approaches. I can't claim they were comfortable but they did show our complete confidence in the system.
All I can say about lateral control in turbulance is that every Vulcan autoland that I experienced was in the right place and pointing in the right direction...Remember firm landings were a requirement to prevent any drift occuring during a possible hold off period.
When BLEU gave its first demonstrations to the worlds aviation press, we were, as Murphy's Law would predict, faced with a 25 kt cross wind on RW 27. Mr Charnley, the boss, pointed out that although that was a limiting factor and a situation the equipment was never designed for, if we did not go through with the demonstration, Auto land would be dead in the water, or words to that effect. In the event it worked out perfectly because it demonstrated so well the kick off drift facility. The visitors saw the a/c crabbing all the way down the slope then straighten up just at touchdown. Right on the button.