FAA/Ohio University/UPS Autoland Flight Test Results

Frank van Graas, David Diggle, Victor Wullschleger, Ruhin Velez, Greg Kuehl, Robert Hilb and Mark Dimeo

Abstract:	Flight-test results are presented for a code-phase, differential-GPS (DGPS) landing system. The DGPS system was installed on a Boeing 757 aircraft from the United Parcel Service operational fleet. Airborne derived DGPS position data was converted into Instrument Landing System (ILS) look-a-like signals which were provided to the aircraft flight control system in place of the ILS-receiver output. The data link operated within the 1LS glide-slope frequency band, and one of the existing aircraft glide-slope antennas was used to receive the data transmitted from the ground reference station. Following initial system check-out at Louisville, Kentucky, the aircraft and ground reference station were flown to the Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center (FAATC), Atlantic City, New Jersey. During the two-day test period which followed, a total of fifiy automatic landings were conducted on three different runways at the Atlantic City International Airport. Truth data was obtained from a laser tracker operated by FAATC personnel. Data analysis shows that the aircraft total system error in the vertical direction was within two meters-- 1 Mean 1+2o or 95%. The two-meter error is well within the proposed Required Navigation Performance for precision landings. This paper details the design of the differential GPS system, its integration into the Boeing 757 aircraft, and an in-depth performance analysis.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1995 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 18 - 20, 1995 Disneyland Hotel Anaheim, CA
Pages:	145 - 156
Cite this article:	van Graas, Frank, Diggle, David, Wullschleger, Victor, Velez, Ruhin, Kuehl, Greg, Hilb, Robert, Dimeo, Mark, "FAA/Ohio University/UPS Autoland Flight Test Results," Proceedings of the 1995 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Anaheim, CA, January 1995, pp. 145-156.
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