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    No pilot, no problem

    The experimental X-47B pilotless plane in development for the Navy will fly from aircraft carriers. It is being used to demonstrate how unmanned systems can be integrated with traditional carrier operations. How the plane will land:

    X-47B features
    On approach
    Just before touchdown
    Hooking an arrestor wire
    After landing

    X-47B features

    The Navy and contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. are using the X-47B to demonstrate the ability of a pilotless plane to land on an aircraft carrier underway at sea.

    Speed:

    High subsonic

    		 Altitude:

    More than 40,000 feet

    		 Wingspan:

    62.1 feet
    Range:

    More than 2,400 miles

    		 Endurance:

    More than 6 hours without refueling

    		 Weapons:

    Can carry 4,500 pounds of ordnance

    On approach

    About five miles from landing, the plane begins to process ship position and deck motion data more than 100 times a second and continues to do so during approach.

    Just before touchdown

    A landing signals officer monitors the approach and can wave off the landing with a hand-held device; plane makes another approach.

    Hooking an arrestor wire

    Plane lands within a foot of deck’s center line; if it misses arresting wire, it lifts off the deck and reenters the landing pattern.

    After landing

    After the landing, an aircraft handler directs the plane, and a deck operator with a wireless device taxis it out of the landing area.

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