THE ALTITUDE RATE COMMAND SYSTEM.
Abstract
A visual landing aid designed to increase landing accuracy and thus reduce accident rates, has been developed. Called the Altitude Rate Command (ARC) system, it provides highly sensitive rate-of-descent error information to approaching aircraft. The information is encoded as a cyclic sequencing of the intensity of a single light. The pilot interprets a repetitive increasing of intensity as a command to increase power so as to decrease his sink rate. Conversely, a decreasing sequence indicates the need to reduce power in order to increase rate of descent. In addition, binary hi-lo information is provided by color coding of the sequencing light: amber signifies 'on glide path,' green signifies high, and red warns of the potentially dangerous low condition. The introduction of intensity sequencing, rather than the color sequencing of the similar Rainbow Optical Landing System, to encode error rate permits increased information rate and minimum interpretation time, which thus increase the effectiveness of the rate display. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 27, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0644477
Entities
People
- Barbour Lee Perry
- H. P. Birmingham
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory