3 ms·

Shouldn't some of the landing procedure, such as lowering of wheels, be instigated automatically?

t0mas88 7y ago
No, that would kill pilots. If you put the gear down, the drag increases greatly so if you do that during approach it increases the rate of descend significantly. If it does that while the crew is distracted (why else would they forget the gear) you're putting them in an unstable situation, close to the ground, descending rapidly. The current warning is fine. After what this crew got, if you still continue, it will literally shout "too low, gear!" at you in a continuous loop.
rcthompson 7y ago
No, I'm pretty sure lowering the landing gear can change the aerodynamic properties of an aircraft pretty significantly. You wouldn't ever want that to happen unexpectedly.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  You'd be right. Next time you're flying, pay attention when the gear goes down. You'll hear an increase in wind noise, coupled with more vibration. The airplane will also kinda "sag" from the increased drag.
- burfog 7y ago
  It would be interesting to deploy the nose gear only when the main gear is in contact with the ground. You'd get better aerodynamic properties that way, because you'd never fly with the nose gear down.
  - freehunter 7y ago
    But in that case if the nose gear fails to deploy you're likely past the point where you can throttle up and try again. If you try to lower the gear while you're still in the air and the gear doesn't go down, you can circle back and try again.
    - burfog 7y ago
      It's not supposed to fail. Anything could fail, and yeah that sucks. If it fails on the first try, it will probably fail on the second try. Landing with gear up happens sometimes, and pilots are supposed to do a decent job with it. Large passenger jets have done this and been put back into service after repairs. Failure can be detected. Throttle up, and any other needed adjustments, can be done immediately by the computer. Getting up off the runway again can be automatic.
      - freehunter 7y ago
        Not exactly true. Many airplanes have manual gear release systems if the mechanical systems fail [1]. These systems don't always work, true, and they may still have to land gear-up true, but there is a manual fail-over system and it does have to be used occasionally. If the rear wheels are already down, though, it's too late to try this. Aviation is not the type of industry where "failures can be handled automatically by the computer" is an acceptable answer. There's almost always manual systems in place for when the computers fail, which they do. [1] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/16913/if-the-landing-gear-is-stuck-in-an-airliner-can-the-crew-go-down-and-manually-o https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/16913/if-the-la...
_s 7y ago
Some GA aircraft did leave the factory with that option ... most owners have since promptly disabled it.
ryanlol 7y ago
It’s muuuch better to land without wheels than it is to fly into something because they popped out unexpectedly.

No, that would kill pilots. If you put the gear down, the drag increases greatly so if you do that during approach it increases the rate of descend significantly. If it does that while the crew is distracted (why else would they forget the gear) you're putting them in an unstable situation, close to the ground, descending rapidly. The current warning is fine. After what this crew got, if you still continue, it will literally shout "too low, gear!" at you in a continuous loop.

rcthompson 7y ago

No, I'm pretty sure lowering the landing gear can change the aerodynamic properties of an aircraft pretty significantly. You wouldn't ever want that to happen unexpectedly.

WalterBright 7y ago
You'd be right. Next time you're flying, pay attention when the gear goes down. You'll hear an increase in wind noise, coupled with more vibration. The airplane will also kinda "sag" from the increased drag.
burfog 7y ago
It would be interesting to deploy the nose gear only when the main gear is in contact with the ground. You'd get better aerodynamic properties that way, because you'd never fly with the nose gear down.
- freehunter 7y ago
  But in that case if the nose gear fails to deploy you're likely past the point where you can throttle up and try again. If you try to lower the gear while you're still in the air and the gear doesn't go down, you can circle back and try again.
  - burfog 7y ago
    It's not supposed to fail. Anything could fail, and yeah that sucks. If it fails on the first try, it will probably fail on the second try. Landing with gear up happens sometimes, and pilots are supposed to do a decent job with it. Large passenger jets have done this and been put back into service after repairs. Failure can be detected. Throttle up, and any other needed adjustments, can be done immediately by the computer. Getting up off the runway again can be automatic.
    - freehunter 7y ago
      Not exactly true. Many airplanes have manual gear release systems if the mechanical systems fail [1]. These systems don't always work, true, and they may still have to land gear-up true, but there is a manual fail-over system and it does have to be used occasionally. If the rear wheels are already down, though, it's too late to try this. Aviation is not the type of industry where "failures can be handled automatically by the computer" is an acceptable answer. There's almost always manual systems in place for when the computers fail, which they do. [1] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/16913/if-the-landing-gear-is-stuck-in-an-airliner-can-the-crew-go-down-and-manually-o https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/16913/if-the-la...

_s 7y ago

Some GA aircraft did leave the factory with that option ... most owners have since promptly disabled it.

ryanlol 7y ago

It’s muuuch better to land without wheels than it is to fly into something because they popped out unexpectedly.