Automatic Takeoff and Landing
Shannon D. Gibson
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
ASCI 638 Activity 2.4
March 7, 2015
Automatic takeoff and landing systems are used
by a wide variety of both manned aircraft and unmanned aircrafts. And example
of a manned aircraft that can have both hands on or off takeoff and landings is
the F/A-18 Hornet. The hands-off takeoff is used during ship board operations,
specifically an aircraft carrier. A steam catapult system has a shuttle or a
piston attached to a track on the flight deck, which then attaches to the nose
wheel of the aircraft. While the aircraft is held in place, steam builds, then
when released, it shoves the aircraft off the deck in approximately 3 seconds. This,
with the help of the wind created by the ships speed gives the aircraft enough
lift to become airborne.
The F/A-18 can also recover hands
off. Depending on the context of hands off, I’ll briefly describe two ways. The
first is the arresting system on an aircraft carrier. Arresting gear is a steel
rope, or sometimes called a cable, that the aircrafts tailhook catches as it
lands. There are typically three laying across the deck and once “caught”, it
is described as a controlled crash. The second hands off approach is a system
called an ACLS, or Automated Carrier Landing System, which is also used on
board aircraft carriers. The ACLS has several Modes a pilot can select that
will assist him/her with their landing. A Mode 1 approach is completely hands
off in where the pilot has his landing system computer lock onto the ACLS
computer and the aircraft fly’s a 3 degree glideslope from approximately 8-10
miles from the back of the ship all the way to an arrested landing on the deck.
For the UAS portion of the topic, I
chose the ScanEagle. One type of launcher the ScanEagle can use is the Mark 4
Launcher. This can be set up and used anywhere due to the power coming from a generator
and the gas can be either JP-5 or 8. It is approximately 17ft by 7ft with a
height of 6.5 feet. This system has a numerous safety control interlocks that
ensure there is no accidental launch. With a two-man team, it can be set up in
as little as 10 minutes. For recovery, The ScanEagle uses the Sky Hook recovery
system. The is a 50 foot cable that is extending from a folding boom on a
trailer. With the use of GPS, the ScanEagle catches the wire with a hook.
For the F/A-18, the catapult system
has multiple safeguards in place to ensure a safe launch, however, once the
release button is pressed, it’s done. There is no other option but to launch.
For the ACLS, it can be canceled at anytime and the pilot can take over
manually as well as the air traffic controller monitoring the approach, can
change the type of approach and give a talk-down to the pilot if the system is
malfunctioning in anyway. The training is extensive in both these systems and
requires numerous people to ensure safety.
For the ScanEagle systems, these are
much more simple than the example with the F/A-18. Once these systems are set
up and in place, they can be operated with just one person. They are also
manufactured to have safety controls in place to prevent accidents.
References
Launching. Mark
4. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://www.insitu.com/systems/launch-and-recovery/launchers
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