Design and flight testing of nonlinear autoflight control laws

At the Department of Avionics and Control Systems problems of aeronautical control systems have been dealt with for years. Several different kinds of aeronautical control systems have been designed, prototyped and tested. These control systems are intended for general aviation aircraft and unmanned aircraft. During all research projects computer simulations and laboratory tests were made. However, since in some cases such tests were insufficient, in-flight tests were conducted leading to a series of reliable results. The in-flight tests were made with the use of M-20 Mewa aircraft (autopilot for a GA aircraft) and PZL-110 Koliber aircraft (control system for UAV and indirect flight control system for a GA aircraft). Nevertheless, in-flight testing is very expensive and problematic. To avoid some problems appearing during in-flight tests and their preparation, a simulator – which is normally used for professional pilot training – can be used. The Aviation Training Center of the Rzeszów University of Technology possesses the ALSIM AL-200 MCC flight simulator. We have started preparing this simulator for the research. It is possible to control the simulated aircraft with the use of an external control system. The solution proposed enables testing the aircraft control algorithms, indirect control laws (e.g. control laws modifying handling qualities), as well as testing and assessment of the students’ pilotage skills. Moreover, the solution makes it possible to conduct tests connected with aircraft control, crew management, crew cooperation and flight safety. The simulator allows us to test dangerous situations, which – because of safety reasons – is impossible during in-flight testing. This paper presents modifications to the simulator’s hardware and additional software, which enable the described research.

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Design, Development and Flight Testing of Control Laws for the Indian Light Combat Aircraft

AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit ◽

10.2514/6.2002-4649 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Shyam Chetty ◽

Girish Deodhare ◽

B. Misra

Keyword(s):

Design Development ◽

Flight Testing ◽

Control Laws ◽

Combat Aircraft

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Stalling transport aircraft

The Aeronautical Journal ◽

10.1017/s0001924000008812 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 117 (1198) ◽

pp. 1183-1206 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P. J. Bolds-Moorehead ◽

V. G. Chaney ◽

T. Lutz ◽

S. Vaux

Keyword(s):

Wind Tunnel ◽

Flight Control ◽

Flight Test ◽

High Angle ◽

Flight Testing ◽

Control Laws ◽

Transport Aircraft ◽

Wind Tunnel Data ◽

Predictive Validation ◽

Flight Deck

Abstract Airbus and Boeing are cooperatively presenting this topic dealing with transport aircraft stalls. The paper will begin by defining a stall, followed by a review of requirements, predictive validation and flight testing. There are various ways of designing modern jet transports for the stall regime such as aerodynamic approaches, flight deck indications, and augmentation control laws to deal with the high angle-of-attack (α) arena. The goal of augmented control laws for high α is common – no full aerodynamic stall or loss of climb performance should occur in the operational flight envelope, in Normal flight control modes. The validation techniques employed in preparation for a flight test campaign will follow. These include flight characteristic predictions based on wind-tunnel data as well as pilot-in-the-loop simulation rehearsals. The preparation for flight testing will be reviewed from both the engineer and pilot viewpoints. This will be followed by a review of various flight testing that has been conducted. The paper will close with a brief foray into what the future of transport stalls could be – perhaps protection features in degraded flight control modes? What are the benefits as well as drawbacks to increased augmentation for high α?

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