Automated Takeoffs Set to Redefine Air Travel: A New Era in Aviation Technology

[Social Media]

 

In 1965, at what is now London Heathrow airport, a commercial flight from Paris made history by becoming the first to land automatically. The aircraft, a Trident 1C operated by BEA (later to become British Airways), utilized a groundbreaking system called "autoland," an advanced version of autopilot designed to guide the plane’s descent without manual control. Today, automatic landing systems are standard in most commercial aircraft, providing safety in difficult weather or poor visibility. 

 

Nearly six decades later, Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer, is introducing a similarly revolutionary technology, but this time for takeoffs. The "E2 Enhanced Take Off System," named after the family of aircraft it’s designed for, is set to reduce pilot workload, improve safety, and enhance aircraft performance. According to Embraer, it will allow planes to travel farther and carry heavier loads.

 

Patrice London, Embraer’s principal performance engineer, has worked on this project for over a decade. She emphasizes the system's precision: “The system is better than the pilots. That’s because it performs in the same way all the time. If you do 1,000 takeoffs, you will get 1,000 of exactly the same takeoff.” The company has already begun flight testing, aiming for approval by 2025 before introducing the system at select airports.

 

Embraer has been making significant strides in the commercial jet market, especially for jets with up to 150 seats. It has delivered nearly 1,700 aircraft from its E-Jet family since 2004, with American Airlines recently ordering 90 E175 planes. The company revamped this model line in 2018, introducing the E2 series, which includes the E-190-E2 and the E-195-E2, placing them in direct competition with Airbus.

 

Luís Carlos Affonso, Embraer’s senior vice president of engineering and technological development, described the automated takeoff system as intuitive and easy for pilots to adapt to. “We believe that the training for pilots will be very limited, because you don’t really change the procedure.” The system takes control during the critical moment of liftoff. “You do not rotate yourself. You have your hands on the yoke, and the airplane rotates itself,” Affonso explains. Once the plane reaches 200 feet, the system reverts to the normal autopilot and autothrottle.

 

One of the system's key advantages is its ability to optimize the takeoff process. The plane can lift off earlier, using less runway and avoiding potential tail strikes. “If you’re a pilot, you have to give some room for error,” Affonso notes. “But because this system is so precise and consistent, you don’t need the same margins, and you can operate closer to the optimum in the initial rotation, as if you were closer to touching with the tail. Except you will not.”

 

Embraer believes the system will enable planes to carry more passengers or travel up to 350 nautical miles farther. Initially, the company plans to introduce the system at London City, Florence, and Santos Dumont airports, but there is interest from other locations as well.

 

In the event of an emergency, the system functions like regular autopilot, returning control to the pilots if needed. Affonso highlights its ability to reduce pilot workload, especially during engine failure scenarios, which enhances safety. “Whenever you reduce the workloads, you make for a safer operation,” he says.

 

Despite these advancements, Affonso clarifies that this is not a move toward fully autonomous flight. “We are just adding one phase, which is the takeoff phase, where you now can have the autopilot engaged,” he states. “But it’s far from autonomous, because the pilot is there, and if there is a failure, the pilot is the one that will take control.”

 

Gary Crichlow, an aviation analyst at Aviation News Limited, acknowledges the potential of Embraer’s new system but cautions that its real-world effectiveness remains to be seen. “In principle, allowing the system to select and perform the optimal takeoff profile automatically seems like an extension of what has become standard practice in other parts of the flight envelope, rather than a radical step towards a fully autonomous aircraft,” he says. However, only time will reveal its true impact on operational efficiency.

 

Based on a report from: CNN 2024-09-27

 

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

As long as Boeing were not involved in the software design, testing or production - fine by me.

[Purdey]

14 hours ago, Social Media said:

because this system is so precise and consistent, you don’t need the same margins, and you can operate closer to the optimum in the initial rotation, as if you were closer to touching with the tail.

Famous last words?

Does it compensate for heavy crosswinds?

Flocks of birds?

[James105]

14 hours ago, Social Media said:

Despite these advancements, Affonso clarifies that this is not a move toward fully autonomous flight. “We are just adding one phase, which is the takeoff phase, where you now can have the autopilot engaged,”

 

So the plane can take off automatically, fly to the destination automatically and land automatically.   "Just adding one phase" was the only phase that was left for the pilot to actually do.   This is quite reassuring though with the advancements in DEI hiring, so long as DEI hiring is kept away from programming the auto pilot doing the actual flying of the plane.