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Old 13th Feb 2005, 09:40
  #17 (permalink)  
safetypee
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
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“737 will not autoland on one auto pilot. I It will fly the GS into the ground. No flare at all.”

I cannot vouch for the capability for the 737 to autoland on one auto pilot, but I would be very surprised if were certificated to do so.

However, flying the GS into the ground may be a simulator problem and / or a source of confusion. In the real world the ILS GS beam is formed by a reflection off the ground in front of the transmitter, the ground position being the GS origin. The geometry of this at very low altitude bends the GS beam into a ‘flare’ shape as the azimuth angle between aircraft and transmitter increases. The point of reflection is between the aircraft and transmitter; in some cases the GS beam may not touch the ground / runway. This is one of the reasons that autopilots fade out the GS signal at low altitude.

One aspect of this thread and the previous ones, is the lack of conclusive knowledge; thus it was interesting to read Flight Crew Reliance on Automation
The primary conclusions were that there is a lack the right type of knowledge (training) for automation, and that there are deficiencies in CRM training re thinking skills. This of course involves how knowledge is used and in particularly about making assumptions
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