Weather conditions affecting VTOL airbus operations in the Northeast Corridor

Abstract

A detailed study of hourly weather observations in the Northeast Corridor during the periods 0600-2400 for a ten year period 1944-1958 was made to study the implications of weather affecting the operations of a VSTOL Airbus transportation system. As a result, specifications for an automatic approach to a hover ending at 75 feet above ground, and within 350 feet visibility were determined to achieve weather reliable operations of over 99.5% throughout the year. Examination of high temperatures indicated that a criterion of operation at 950 F at 1000 feet elevation should be used to ensure 99.5% reliability through the summer months over the corrider. The frequency of high winds indicated that a step gust of 30 mph could be used for specifying the aircraft's displacement from a hover position while under an inertially stabilized automatic control system. As a by product, this study indicates that Category II all weather operations occur about 0.9% of the time, and Category III about 1.3% of the time in the Northeast Corridor. These percentages were lower at major stations like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington.