ErichF
Elite Veteran
Location: Odessa, FL 33556 (Tampa Area)
My Posts This: Topic Forum | No, "AUTOLAND" is just Aerovironment's term for a commanded landing.
Trust me, I have been an instructor on the Raven System for the past 3 1/2 years. While the system can conduct an autonomous landing, the airplane is 99% of the time landed upon command of the pilot at his descretion. That's a nice feature that allows operations from areas like rooftops.
We taught troops to land from low level (5 feet or so) in order to accomplish this in the field.
The Autoland descent is a lot like a heli autorotating, about a 45° glideslope. Only difference is the end of the landing...similar to a parachute impact. The airplane is designed to pop apart on impact to spread out the energy and prevent breakage. If you ever saw someone do a "harrier landing" with a plank, you can imagine how landing a Raven is like. The stabilator goes full up deflection 45° and puts the airplane in a deep stall. The pilot still has control of left, right, fwd and back stick to aim to the landing spot.
The reason I think this was intentional is because I have talked to troops like these that use the system. They always try to land in the backs of trucks and even boats! They usually have landing contests similar to our auto contests. Some of these guys get pretty good!
Erich |
As the career counselor – personnel action NCO recommended I simply visit the LHS. 
