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A350 takes taking off into its own hands

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  • A350 takes taking off into its own hands

    Whilst Boeing works on getting steam back up on their single-aisle tugboat, Airbus has achieved a technological milestone. An A350 took off from Toulouse eight times over the past month automatically. Particularly interesting is the means of guidance. Unlike the standard RWY HDG mode that uses the ILS signal (I think), this aircraft was equipped with a new image-recognition technology, essentially giving it eyes on the runway. No it didn't set power or configuration but it did rotate and lift off with no pilot input. Airbus says the technology will soon allow the automation to taxi into position as well (and perhaps line-up and autoland). Think of the workload this will save! Actually, I'm not sure what this milestone is a milestone towards. The pilots aren't going away. Taxiing and rotation seem like reasonable things to ask of a human pilot. Unlike autoland, which achieves what human pilots cannot, I don't really see the goal here. Unless the artificial vision technology is infrared, it won't offer any advantage in restricted visibility. Perhaps it's an efficiency thing. Anyway, it's fascinating technology.

  • #2
    Surely this is a step towards the 1 man cockpit. When the autonomous cars/trucks/buses show lower crash stats than the human controlled ones it's only a matter of time before 'fully autonomous' (1 man cockpit) planes, and for freight flights this is a no brainer!

    [blue font]Looks like BB got out 'just in time'
    Last edited by vaztr; 2020-01-21, 20:59. Reason: Added the 'blue font' BB line

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    • #3
      Your Boeing envy is showing! . It will still be a bus, and never a Boeing.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by BoeingBobby View Post
        Your Boeing envy is showing! . It will still be a bus, and never a Boeing.
        I'm rooting for Boeing, once the management cancer is removed and they start innovating again.

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        • #5
          the management cancer is seeking TEN BILLION in loans right now. maybe they should just ask for ONE TRILLION, dump the MAX program and get on with life and real advancement.

          Greed: the American creed

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          • #6
            I watched a Nexflix special on Avocado production.

            It was creepy.

            Yes, this is actually a relevant comment and not an LSD-3BS172 moment.
            Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by 3WE View Post
              I watched a Nexflix special on Avocado production.
              I didn't.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by ATLcrew View Post

                I didn't watch a Netflix special on Avocado production.
                Summary: Money is the root of much evil & BAN ALL AVOCADOES!!!!!

                Non US entities were not all that angelic either.
                Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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                • #9
                  I've been shooting landings at HND and ITM last week, mostly to capture dust and burning rubber (not good enough for JP veting). It's disappointing how little dust ANA's airbusses produced compared with Boeings.
                  Attached Files
                  Last edited by Aldgyte; 2020-01-22, 19:32. Reason: To remove multiple copies of the image.
                  --
                  David dubya Wilson

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Aldgyte View Post
                    I've been shooting landings at HND and ITM last week, mostly to capture dust and burning rubber (not good enough for JP veting). It's disappointing how little dust ANA's airbusses produced compared with Boeings.
                    Interesting observation. If it's not just coincidental, I wonder if this is due to differences in the way in which ground spoilers actuate. The amount of weight on the tires + friction from the moment of tire contact until spin-up causes the smoke. On the B737, ground spoilers actuate upon gear compression of the RIGHT main gear strut AND a wheel spin-up to 60kts. However, if the system doesn't receive a valid wheel spin signal (maybe fairly common) the spoilers actuate immediately. On the A320, it depends on whether ground spoilers are armed. If they are armed, they deploy upon compression of BOTH main gear struts. If they are not armed, they deploy upon thrust reverser deployment, thus after wheel spin-up. If only one main strut is compressed when reverse thrust is applied, the spoilers will only extend to 10° until the other strut is compressed.

                    If these flights are conducting autoland, the A320 deploys ground spoilers at HALF SPEED, ONE SECOND after main gear compression, allowing for spin-up.

                    Another difference: during autoland, the B737 autopilot (unless upgraded) lacks a rudder channel, whereas the A320 decrabs and lines up automatically. If the B737's have a slight yaw angle on touchdown, that might cause more visible smoke.

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                    • #11
                      TBH I think that the runway condition could also be a factor. At ITM there is much less traffic on various sections of the runway used by lighter aircraft including the A320s, whereas the heavier craft use the other runway. At HND currently most (probably 80%) aircraft are landing near the same spot.

                      (PS my expertise is in Information Systems Management and my interest in dust is aesthetic)
                      --
                      David dubya Wilson

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                      • #12
                        Old memories. When I first flew the DC-9-10, it only weighed about 92.000lbs. We would arm the spoilers and at wheel spin up or something you got 3000lbs hydraulic pressure to the spoilers, bang, full spoilers and the struts bottomed out. One of the captains I flew with and I would try different techniques to smooth out the touch down, even manually extending them, which later when I was in the DC-8 you had to do, was about the only way to smooth it out.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Evan View Post
                          ...However, if the system doesn't receive a valid wheel spin signal (maybe fairly common) the spoilers actuate immediately.
                          Why am I having trouble getting my head around the concept of a system that triggers "immediately" when something does not happen?

                          Be alert! America needs more lerts.

                          Eric Law

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by elaw View Post
                            Why am I having trouble getting my head around the concept of a system that triggers "immediately" when something does not happen?
                            Evan might have implied, but forgot to actually mention a very important detail there, namely that the system must still receive an "on ground" signal from a gear strut compression. So, it's not like the system will deploy the ground spoilers and just dump you out of the air, it has to know you're on the ground already. Wheel speed data is helpful, but not critical, knowing if you're on the ground or in the air is much more important.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by kent olsen View Post
                              Old memories. When I first flew the DC-9-10, it only weighed about 92.000lbs. We would arm the spoilers and at wheel spin up or something you got 3000lbs hydraulic pressure to the spoilers, bang, full spoilers and the struts bottomed out. One of the captains I flew with and I would try different techniques to smooth out the touch down, even manually extending them, which later when I was in the DC-8 you had to do, was about the only way to smooth it out.
                              What I’m really wondering is if you do an RTO in a 747, you get 3000 PSI straight to the spoilers...

                              All this stuff can be confusing.
                              Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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