"Aan this airplane land itself?" That's a frequent question from the flying public when first viewing a high-tech cockpit. These days the question has morphed into "can this airplane fly without a pilot?" Even in its most recent incarnation, the question boils down to that of autoland. The only aircraft I've ever flown with autoland capability was a U.S. Air Force E-4B, a Boeing 747-200. The autopilot was a masterpiece for its time and the only thing it wasn't allowed to do that we pilots could do, was fly behind a tanker, hook up, and gulp down 40,000 gal. of jet fuel. Believe it or not, that's easier than it sounds.
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