Automatic landing of a small private plane
Not long ago I reflected on the projects of some companies carrying out autonomous landing programs for airplanes and also commented that it would not take long for this possibility to reach the smallest private airplanes.
And as things unfold much faster than we think, a few weeks later I come across the news that the American aeronautical company Cyrrus is offering for its Vision Jet G2 model the possible installation of a program called Safe Return, which what it does is land the plane autonomously.
And it does so without receiving any information from outside the plane. It does it through a computer program that receives information from cameras located on the plane itself, GPS status, wind data, airport location information, etc …
With this data, the “system” is able to place the plane on the runway so that if the pilot suffers some kind of “problem,” passengers can arrive safely on the ground.
The system is being approved by the FAA and they hope that by 2020 they can offer it to customers, though quite another thing is that they can achieve it quickly, because security on an airplane is not something that is negotiable.
I recommend watching the video that explains how the system works
It’s really worth it
At the beginning they offer it with their “high-end” model, but I’m sure it will end up being applied for almost all models. It is an additional security measure and most customers will be interested in having it, because people aren’t willing to put at risk their lives for a few thousand dollars.
In the beginning they will offer it as a “safe” landing system in case the pilot suffers an incident. But when it is verified that it works effectively, I consider that it will only be a matter of a short time to make a small modification to the system, and that they offer it to their clients as the possibility of making flights and landings automatically.
I think it is a very serious advance for the aeronautical world and will make private flights much safer than they are today.
As many times I comment, things are developing today at an amazing speed, as there are many people working on similar ideas and everyone rushes to reach the market as soon as possible.
What happens is that with security issues they can’t play, they have to go for what is safe.
