Below glidelope?

[Larry in TN]

I think Land 2 was amber and Land 3 was green in the EICAS.

Ah, so you had to engage each of the three A/Ps into CMD manually. That's all automatic now.

The LAND 2 or LAND 3 is displayed on the Autoland Status Annunciator.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bKLTDG4I...5Bz-R7kPl0/s1600/100_5554-20120924-154536.jpg

 

[aterpster]

Ah, so you had to engage each of the three A/Ps into CMD manually. That's all automatic now.

The LAND 2 or LAND 3 is displayed on the Autoland Status Annunciator.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bKLTDG4I...5Bz-R7kPl0/s1600/100_5554-20120924-154536.jpg

I believe in the fleet I flew the annunciation was on the EICAS.

So, how do you couple up to an ILS and say "no" to autoland?

 

[Larry in TN]

I believe in the fleet I flew the annunciation was on the EICAS.

There are no such EICAS annunciations in the current software.

So, how do you couple up to an ILS and say "no" to autoland?

You don't. You disconnect the autopilot prior to landing.

 

[aterpster]

There are no such EICAS annunciations in the current software.


You don't. You disconnect the autopilot prior to landing.

Wonder whether the airplane was always that way but TWA opted out? (rhetorical question
The MCP illustrations jogged my memory, the EICAS messages were only for auto-land faults, such as No Land 3 (or 2).
The method I described could have been a TWA spec because of the large number of L1011s we had. If you were in auto land mode in the 1011 and disengaged at DA you had a handful of mis-trimmed airplane. When in auto land mode the 1011 pitch trimmed was biased nose up for a missed approach, but overcome by the direct lift control so long as go around wasn't selected. The 1011 was really ahead of its time.

 

[Larry in TN]

The 737's autoland system puts in a good bit of nose-up trim at 500' for the flare. It's the only time when you do a coupled-go-around. If you were to disconnect you'd be way out of trim. That only happens when both autopilots are in CMD on the approach which is only on auto-lands. Hitting TOGO on any single-AP approach disengages the AP.

The NO LAND 3 is now on the second (bottom) indicator on the autoland status panel.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

If I'm on a precision approach and I find myself below the glideslope, say by one tick mark, should I climb to intercept or hold altitude until I intercept? For the sake of this question, let's assume I'm right on the localizer.

You overanalyze until you have to go missed.

Let me use the driving analogy to this question: "If I'm in a left-hand curve and find myself too close to the centerline, should I turn the wheel to the right or just go straight until I'm in the center of the lane?" Answer: You do neither, you just make a slightly wider left turn.

Same with the glideslope. It's VERY sensitive - IIRC, full deflection at minimums is *eight feet.* So, you want to make very minor adjustments. Leveling off is a pretty drastic adjustment.

The quickest way to make your passengers sick on an instrument flight is to correct anything quickly. It's much smoother, and more importantly much easier, to remember to just ensure things are trending toward where you want them to be. If you make your corrections too quickly, you'll likely blow past where you want to be and have to correct in the other direction. And contrary to popular belief, "Turns about a localizer" is not a required maneuver to get the instrument rating.

Don't overthink it. Give a hair of back pressure on the yoke and you'll be where you want to be before you know it. Relax the back pressure and continue.

 

[Palmpilot]

Good points. The action I was taught for when I am above or below the glide slope is to increase or reduce the rate of descent. So I guess my answer to the OP's question would be "neither." Both of the alternatives he suggests would be an overreaction.