Originally Posted by
jrl22
...... I had just read an Aviation Week article about the triple-channel autoland on the L15; the captain said something like "If you want to watch while we fly it into Houston, just have a seat here" and pointed to the jumpseat)
Ah yes, the Tristar autoland, generally regarded as the most brilliant ever, the maximum crosswind allowed was greater than current manufacturers, and in fact a Lockheed test pilot said they had managed even higher during tests, but just couldn't find such a crosswind during certification trials.
How did Lockheed manage it ? Well, look at when they were doing the development, around 1970. A major pioneer of autoland had been the Hawker Siddeley Trident during the 1960s, design work on which was running down by 1970, and HS displayed a rather off-hand approach to the autoland team. Along came Lockheed, and the key team members upped and left Hatfield for the sunnier climate of Burbank. Lockheed always kept pretty quiet about it, but that's where it came from.