Advances In Aircraft Flight Control

This book provides a single comprehensive resource that reviews many of the current aircraft flight control programmes from the perspective of experienced practitioners directly involved in the projects. Each chapter discusses a specific aircraft flight programme covering the control system design considerations, control law architecture, simulation and analysis, flight test optimization and handling qualities evaluations. The programmes described have widely exploited modern interdisciplinary tools and techniques and the discussions include extensive flight test results. Many important `lessons learned' are included from the experience gained when design methods and requirements were tested and optimized in actual flight demonstration.

Advanced Flight Dynamics aim to integrate the subjects of aircraft performance, trim and stability/control in a seamless manner. Advanced Flight Dynamics highlights three key and unique viewpoints. Firstly, it follows the revised and corrected aerodynamic modeling presented previously in recent textbook on Elementary Flight Dynamics. Secondly, it uses bifurcation and continuation theory, especially the Extended Bifurcation Analysis (EBA) procedure devised by the authors, to blend the subjects of aircraft performance, trim and stability, and flight control into a unified whole. Thirdly, rather than select one control design tool or another, it uses the generalized Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (NDI) methodology to illustrate the fundamental principles of flight control. Advanced Flight Dynamics covers all the standard airplane maneuvers, various types of instabilities normally encountered in flight dynamics and illustrates them with real-life airplane data and examples, thus bridging the gap between the teaching of flight dynamics/ control theory in the university and its practice in airplane design bureaus. The expected reader group for this book would ideally be senior undergraduate and graduate students, practicing aerospace/flight simulation engineers/scientists from industry as well as researchers in various organizations. Key Features: Focus on unified nonlinear approach, with nonlinear analysis tools. Provides an up-to-date, corrected, and unified presentation of aircraft trim, stability and control analysis including nonlinear phenomena and closed-loop stability analysis. Contains a computational tool and real-life example carried through the chapters. Includes complementary nonlinear dynamic inversion control approach, with relevant aircraft examples. Fills the gap in the market for a text including non-linear flight dynamics and continuation methods.

Nonlinear problems in flight control have stimulated cooperation among engineers and scientists from a range of disciplines. Developments in computer technology allowed for numerical solutions of nonlinear control problems, while industrial recognition and applications of nonlinear mathematical models in solving technological problems is increasing. The aim of the book Advances in Flight Control Systems is to bring together reputable researchers from different countries in order to provide a comprehensive coverage of advanced and modern topics in flight control not yet reflected by other books. This product comprises 14 contributions submitted by 38 authors from 11 different countries and areas. It covers most of the currents main streams of flight control researches, ranging from adaptive flight control mechanism, fault tolerant flight control, acceleration based flight control, helicopter flight control, comparison of flight control systems and fundamentals. According to these themes the contributions are grouped in six categories, corresponding to six parts of the book.

The history of flight control is inseparably associated to the history of aviation itself. Since the early period, the concept of automatic flight control systems has progressed from mechanical control systems to highly advanced automatic fly-by-wire flight control systems which can be found nowadays in military jets and civil airliners. A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. Aircraft engine controls are also considered as flight controls as they change speed. An autopilot is a system used to control the trajectory of a vehicle without constant 'hands-on' control by a human operator being required. Autopilots do not replace a human operator, but assist them in controlling the vehicle, allowing them to focus on broader aspects of operation, such as monitoring the trajectory, weather and systems. Autopilots are used in aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, and others. Autopilots have evolved significantly over time, from early autopilots that merely held an attitude to modern autopilots capable of performing automated landings under the supervision of a pilot. The autopilot in a modern large aircraft typically reads its position and the aircraft's attitude from an inertial guidance system. Automatic Flight Control Systems - Latest Developments emphases on a selection of significant research areas, such as inertial navigation, control of unmanned aircraft and helicopters, trajectory control of an unmanned space re-entry vehicle, aeroservoelastic control, adaptive flight control, and fault tolerant flight control.

Annotation Bridging the gap between academic research and real-world applications, this reference on modern flight control methods for fixed-wing aircraft deals with fundamentals of flight control systems design, then concentrates on applications based on the modern control methods used in the latest aircraft. The book is written for practicing engineers who are new to the aviation industry, postgraduate students in strategic or applied research, and advanced undergraduates. Some knowledge of classical control is assumed. Pratt is a member of IEEE and is UK Member for AIAA's Technical Committee on Guidance, Navigation and Control. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This book provides a single comprehensive resource that reviews many of the current aircraft flight control programmes from the perspective of experienced practitioners directly involved in the projects. Each chapter discusses a specific aircraft flight programme covering the control system design considerations, control law architecture, simulation and analysis, flight test optimization and handling qualities evaluations. The programmes described have widely exploited modern interdisciplinary tools and techniques and the discussions include extensive flight test results. Many important `lessons learned' are included from the experience gained when design methods and requirements were tested and optimized in actual flight demonstration.

The #1 guide to understanding the "why and how" of fly-by-wire flight control systems. This book is an approachable and easily understandable must-read for aviation professionals! Why don't new aircraft designs allow the pilots a mechanical control connection? This book explains how fly-by-wire fixes the top 5 problems with mechanical controls for high performance aircraft. Rather than describe a particular aircraft’s design with confusing acronyms, readers will get a "behind the scenes" understanding for the critical concepts that apply to any modern aircraft. Because these design principles are easily described and understood, readers of this book will be armed with knowledge as they approach their flight manual procedures. Including: - Problems with mechanical flight controls - Advantages of fly-by-wire - How and why can fly-by-wire control systems fail? - Why are four computers better than one or two? - Explanations of the control laws used by business jets, fighters, and airliners - What sensors are needed, and how the system maintains control when sensors are lost - Design considerations for risk mitigation in case of component failures Buy this book to read on your next layover!