Embraer has emphasised the safety aspects of its automatic take-off system, as it prepares for European and US certification measures.
The system – known as E2TS – has already been fitted to an E195-E2, but the manufacturer intends to make it available across its E-Jet range.
It is designed to optimise take-off by rotating the aircraft consistently, pitching it sufficiently to avoid tail-strike before increasing pitch, immediately after becoming airborne, to gain height and reduce overall take-off distance.
Embraer’s E2TS technical leader, Patrice London Guedes, says it uses the fly-by-wire architecture, including three flight-control computers and four air-data sensors, for the “highest level of integrity and availability”.
The ability to pursue a greater pitch after leaving the ground translates to increased take-off weight capability.
London Guedes adds that the system is “fail passive”, disengaging with no significant deviation and reverting to pilot control after a single failure.
“Beyond the take-off performance optimisation, the system will greatly improve safety, by reducing the pilot workload and making the operation even more precise and consistent,” he says.
Pilots will be given dedicated training, a half-day ground class session, to ensure they understand the E2TS functionality and the way the aircraft will behave.
But Embraer senior vice-president of engineering Luis Carlos Affonso – who has flown the E2 with the system fitted – points out that standard operating procedures are “absolutely the same”.
The crew lines up the aircraft on the runway, and arms E2TS through the multifunction control and display unit.
After selecting E2TS, the crew engages autopilot and autothrottle. As the aircraft accelerates, the pilots use standard call-outs – except that there is no manual rotation after the ‘rotate’ call.
“The only thing you have to focus on, is not to rotate the airplane – to allow the airplane to rotate itself,” says Carlos Affonso. “If you try to rotate it, the system will disengage.”
Embraer developed a new control law as the basis for E2TS, he states, optimising it through “thousands” of simulated take-offs to maximise performance while avoiding tail-strikes.
He compares E2TS to autoland, which was initially applied to commercial air transport aircraft some 50 years ago.
“We like to say [E2TS] is an automatic system, not an autonomous system,” he says. “In the same way you have autolanding, Embraer is introducing auto-take-off.”
“Failures are extremely improbable,” he insists, adding that the system can cope with crosswinds and engine-out scenarios and still rotate with a greater precision than a pilot would typically demonstrate.
Embraer says the Brazilian civil aviation regulator ANAC approved a certification plan this year, while progress with European and US certification work is expected this month. The manufacturer aims to introduce the system to service towards the end of next year.
