Originally Posted by
fdx727pilot
The Valsan conversion was done on many 727s, both for FedEx and other companies. The autopilot capability of the donor aircraft determined whether the plane was auto land capable. All the 727-S2Fs, which Fedex ordered new from Boeing and were the only 727s we converted to Valsan configuration, were all capable of CatIIIa (auto land with no rollout) approaches, requiring 600 RVR. These airplanes were the best factory equipped 727s, and were the last 17 planes off the Boeing 727 line.
Perhaps the Valsan airplanes you are familiar with were converted from planes equipped with older, less capable autopilots.
I stand corrected then. I had the opportunity to fly two of the ex-FedEx Valsan 727s at my previous company. I thought they were not autoland capable with the removal of the autothrottles. They only operated them as Cat 1 birds anyways. I will agree with you that they are some of the most capable 727s ever made. We even added a GPS to them when we picked them out of VCV. The added performance made the job much easier.