Lem said: Nowadays reducing the rate is becoming a requierement not only for the danger of overshooting, but above all not to trigger undue RA.
Danger of overshooting? I thought autopilots were getting better over the years, not becoming prone to overshoot errors.
I would be most surprised to see a serviceable flight guidance system that has been properly set and armed and monitored by a crew overshoot the armed altitude.
(Mind you, I still watch mine).
That is the whole point of a lot of whizz-bangery in the altitude capture mode of an AP. And it is programmed to do it at a "g" that is comfortable to pax.
It is simple enough to do manually - take ten percent of your vertical speed as the point at which to start your level off. ie 2500 fpm descending to F060, commence level off at 6,250 feet. If a manual pilot can do it, should be piece of pie for Otto, who is recalculating it at so-many-megahertz. Also a very useful calculation to make if one is concerned about 'overshooting,' if you are monitoring Otto and he hasnt started to pitch up/down at that point.
I'd be u/s'ing the unit if it overshot.
But for TCAS, well I can accept that, but I am curious -- how many folk here had a RA or TA due simply to high vertical speed approaching an assigned altitude?
Last edited by ITCZ; 25th May 2003 at 00:54.