cgtpilot

At JetBlue we have to "see-to-land" hence the 50ft DH. Our mins for cat IIIb (will be) 600/400/advisory. The HUD also has a flare function built in once you reach DH.

cgtpilot

To further cloud the water that is exactly what we are doing (your 2nd sentence).

Adlerdriver

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClutchCargo

That's the answer I was looking for. Posting #6 in this thread indicated that JetBlue was going to do handflown CAT3b. I didn't think you could do a '3b without autoland.

Clutch,
There's nothing I've ever seen that restricts Cat-3b to autoland only(company opspecs might but not FAR or ICAO type rules). It allows use of a DH (less than 50') which implies see to land operations (like in some of the CDG approaches). How you get to that DH in order to see something (w/ approval from on high) seems to be irrelevant (although, if I was riding on that aircraft, it would be HIGHLY relevant to me!!).

RedeyeAV8r

That is why they have to use higher mins than we do.

Dash8widget

You are correct - the QX Q-400's and RJ's are 600/600/400. They had a newer version of the HGS that had runway remaining guidance; something the older version on the Dash-8 200 did not have.

When I tell people at my new airline that this little regional has been flying hand flown Cat III approaches in a turboprop since the mid '90's, they don't believe me!

SW, DL, AS, and QX all use various models of the Flight Dynamics HGS system. All Cat III certified HGS's have flare guidance that will take you right down to touchdown on the runway. Though you are required to see the runway to go below the 50' DH, its still a very precise system. At QX we used to fly HGS approaches to 0/0 in the sim. After landing we would bring the vis back up only to find the plane right on centerline. Definately helps build confidence.

The Fed's really like the HGS system. They allowed QX to use 1800 RVR at many 2400 RVR runways, Cat II as low as 1000 RVR, and single engine Cat III. Autoland is a great system, but is expensive and systems intensive.

The Dude Abides

As an FO at QX, I got to do CATIII approaches in the sim during training from the left seat. That was by far the easiest approach to fly. As Dash8widget said, it could be a 600RVR morning in Seattle and still a legal takeoff alternate.