The Boeing/Bendix Automatic Landing System for the 707 Aircraft

This paper describes the equipment that is being added or retrofitted to the 707/720 airplanes to enable low approach and automatic landings to be made under conditions of low visibility as a part of regular airline operations. It's capability in safely providing such performance has been certified by the FAA. This certification is a significant advance toward all weather airline operations.

The major elements of the system such as the auto-pilot, yaw damper, approach and flare couplers and auto-throttle system are described in relation to their effects on performance and safety. The safety aspects of the system are particularly important for this application and, therefore, the monitoring and automatic test sub-systems are described in some detail.

The test procedures used to evaluate all aspects of the system design are also described.