Newsdesk — Commercial Aviation

Nasa Demonstrates Throttles Only Landing

NASA test pilots have performed a successful landing of an MD-11 airliner by only varying the engines’ thrust and not touching the flight controls. Carried out at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Centre (at Edwards AFB) in late August, the test was designed to prove that a large airliner could be successfully landed with its flight controls disabled. The programme was prompted by the July 1989 crash landing of a United Airlines DC-10 at Sioux City when the aircraft’s tail engine exploded, resulting in complete hydraulic failure. The pilot managed to bring the aircraft down using throttles alone, but wing roll and pitch oscillation caused primarily by low level wind gusts caused it to cartwheel after touchdown. Nevertheless, 184 of the 296 people on board survived (this accident is one of 14 analysed in-depth in Air Disaster vol 2, out mid December). The Dryden MD-11 test used NASA developed software to control the aircraft with thrust alone. The successful landing was performed on a turbulent day but was described by pilot C Gordon Fullerton as “one I would be proud of if just flying normally”. Only the test MD-11’s two underwing engines are controlled by the software as varying their thrust provides pitch control. Roll is controlled by differential thrust, the resultant yawing action creating roll through the wings’ dihedral. Pitch control was found to be precise, roll control less so although the turbulence on the morning of the test was bad enough to induce up to 10 degrees of wing rock.

Fokker Bailout Plan

Fokker has submitted a new business plan to the Dutch Government, saying it is facing a major financial crisis unless a large amount of money is quickly injected. The latest in Sporty’s Pilot Shop’s series of cockpit posters features the Boeing 777. The 86cm x 61cm poster is available for $US8.95 through Sporty’s shop, which you can contact on fax +49 611 20 898. Analysts have suggested that new funding of up to $US1.2bn is necessary and major shareholder Daimler Benz Aerospace (DASA) says it is prepared to participate in a restructuring plan. The Dutch Government remains a minor shareholder in Fokker and has already stated it will not allow the company to collapse, although future funding depends on a viable business plan being presented. The seriousness of Fokker’s problems is not being downplayed, the company stating that: “If the government does nothing, the threat of closure is getting very big. DASA cannot close the gap alone”. Fokker is carrying a very heavy debt from financing.