Summary
The ‘E2 Enhanced Take Off System’ would improve safety by reducing pilot workload. It would also improve range and takeoff weight, allowing planes that use it to travel farther.
The E-2 is a new version of the popular E-190 aircraft. The E-195 has a capacity of about 140 passengers. The new E-200 has a range of about 200 miles.
The system allows the plane to take off as early as possible and more steeply, but without incurring a tail strike. The system reacts in the same way as the normal autopilot, sounding an alarm and giving controls back to the pilots. Embraer plans to introduce the system at three airports: London City in England, Florence in Italy and Santos Dumont in Brazil.
This is not a first step towards total automation, or even getting rid of one of the pilots. “I tested the system in failure cases, especially when you lose an engine,” Affonso says.
