Automatic braking systems are standard on modern commercial aircraft and are manually activated by the pilot. They apply an adequate and uniform braking force to the wheels during takeoff and landing, lightening the pilot’s workload. The system has various settings and includes a rejected take-off function. The crew evaluates environmental and aircraft conditions to decide whether to activate the automatic brakes during landing.
Automatic brakes are an automated wheel-based hydraulic braking system standard on most modern commercial aircraft, particularly larger jet aircraft. The purpose of an automatic braking system is to automatically apply an adequate and uniform braking force to the airplane wheels at landing or takeoff stages where the pilot’s workload is heavy. This also applies the brakes more evenly and reacts to deceleration dynamics more precisely. Automatic braking systems are generally activated manually by the pilot as part of pre-takeoff and landing checks. These systems typically have various settings designed to accommodate most environmental conditions and aircraft configurations.
The pilot who flies is under the greatest pressure during takeoff and landing. There are more than enough things to do and focus on even in ideal conditions. When crosswinds, low visibility, and wind shear gremlins are present, things can get very interesting. Automatic braking systems are one of the automated features present on modern aircraft designed to lighten the pilot’s workload and ensure that high-stress situations can be more easily controlled successfully.
The automatic braking system typically consists of a manual control on the flight deck that interfaces with aircraft systems to apply main gear braking automatically under set conditions. These controls are typically located on the center instrument panel near the landing gear stick and have several different configurations. While different aircraft manufacturers have alternate settings, the settings typically include an off, low, medium, high, and maximum setting, plus a rejected take-off (RTO) setting. The RTO setting is activated by default before takeoff; the other adjustments are generally made at the pilot’s discretion when preparing to land.
The RTO function of an automatic braking system applies the maximum braking of the main gear if the pilot decides to abort takeoff on the runway. This is a typically dangerous and stressful procedure; The automatic braking feature takes the load off the rider’s mind when this happens. This function is generally ground speed and throttle position activated; it engages automatically if the throttles return to idle while ground speed is above a certain point, typically 80 knots. Although optional, the use of automatic brakes during landing is generally employed, depending on a number of factors.
When preparing to land, the crew will evaluate a number of environmental and aircraft condition factors when deciding whether to activate the automatic brakes and what level of braking to use. Depending on these variables, the automatic brakes will activate during landing preparations in a suitable configuration. When the plane lands, the autobrakes will come on automatically when the throttles change to idle. Simultaneously, the spoilers will deploy automatically and the pilot will activate the reverse thrusters; This combination of braking inputs can safely and smoothly decelerate the aircraft.
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