4 ms·
I doubt it is even undefined in this case. Ejected vs. not-ejected is very likely not even an input variable to the autopilot. So the answer would be: Autopi
by aeternus 8y ago
I doubt it is even undefined in this case.
Ejected vs. not-ejected is very likely not even an input variable to the autopilot. So the answer would be:
Autopilot will attempt to do exactly what it was doing before the pilot ejected.
- derefr 8y agoEjecting presumably shoves the plane downward in recoil from the pilot shooting upward. The autopilot would notice that. Also, the plane would be lighter after the ejection. And perhaps—I'm just guessing—the cockpit window or ceiling might now be gone? In which case there'd suddenly be a lot of drag from air swirling down into the cockpit. So no, I don't expect the autopilot would continue to do exactly what it was doing before. It'd have to do a bunch of corrections, and then it would return to what it was doing before :) (Or those corrections might be enough to make it decide "the pilot" should take over. What happens when there's no pilot and no autopilot? I'm guessing that's down to the way avionics hardware reads out when nobody's touching it.)
- viraptor 8y agoThe first two options are for acceleration and weight. The first one changes enough while the plane is flying to be measured in Gs. There's also air turbulence. You wouldn't want to rely on secondary things like that. The second one can change for a number of reasons in a military plane. If you can even measure it, considering the changing acceleration. The cockpit can be broken or sensors may be malfunctioning as well, so "cockpit missing" is not a great signal.
- jsight 8y agoYeah, that is what I was thinking as well. The autopilot itself won't care, but the disturbance may (or may not) be enough to cause it to turn off. Whether it does or not may even be situation dependent.