AIRCRAFT CONTROL

SYSTEM
The architecture of the flight control system, essential for all
flight operations, has significantly changed throughout the
years.
In the past articulated surfaces were introduced for basic
control, operated by the pilot through a system of cables
and pulleys.
This technique survived for decades and is now still used for
small airplanes.
The introduction of larger airplanes and the increase of
flight envelopes made the muscular effort of the pilot, in
many conditions, not sufficient to counteract the
aerodynamic hinge moments consequent to the surfaces
deflection.
Thus the first solution to this problem was the introduction of
aerodynamic balances and tabs.
Further grow of the aircraft sizes and flight envelops brought to
the need of powered systems to control the articulated
aerodynamic surfaces.
Nowadays two great categories of flight control systems
can be found:
a full mechanical control on gliders and small general aviation,
and a powered, or
servo assisted, control on large or combat aircraft.
One of the great additional effects after the introduction of
servomechanisms is the possibility of using active control
technology, working directly on the flight control actuators, for a
series of benefits:
• compensation for deficiencies in the aerodynamics of
the basic airframe;
• stabilization and control of unstable airplanes, that
have commonly higher performances;
• flight at high angles of attack;
• automatic stall and spinning protection;
• gust alleviation.
A further evolution of the servo-assisted control is the
fly-by-wire technique, based on signal processing of the
pilot’s demand before conversion into actuator control.
The number and type of aerodynamic surfaces to be controlled
changes with aircraft category.
classic layout for a conventional aircraft have a number of
different control surfaces:
those indicated in red form the primary flight control, i.e.
pitch, roll and yaw control, basically obtained by deflection
of
elevators, ailerons and rudder (and combinations of them);
those indicated in blue form the secondary flight control:
high-lift and lift-dump devices, airbrakes, tail trimming, etc.
 Generally the primary cockpit controls are arranged
as follows:
A control column or a control yoke attached to a
column—for roll and pitch, which moves
the ailerons when turned or deflected left and right,
and moves the
elevators when moved backwards or forwards
Rudder pedals to control yaw, which move the rudder;
left foot forward will move the rudder left for instance.
Throttle controls to control engine speed or thrust for
powered aircraft.
Even when an aircraft uses different kinds of surfaces,
such as a
V-tail/ruddervator,
flaperons, or
elevons,
to avoid pilot confusion the aircraft will still normally
be designed so that
the yoke or stick
controls pitch and roll in the conventional way, as
will the rudder pedals for yaw.
In addition to the primary flight controls for roll,
pitch, and yaw, there are often
secondary controls available to give the
pilot finer control over flight or to ease the
workload.
The most commonly-available control is a wheel
or other device to control
elevator trim,
Many aircraft have wing flaps, controlled
by a switch or a mechanical lever or
in some cases are fully automatic by computer
control, which
alter the shape of the wing for
improved control at the slower speeds
used for takeoff and landing.
Other secondary flight control systems may be
available, including
slats, spoilers, air brakes and variable-sweep wings.
As mentioned before mechanical or manually-
operated flight control systems are the most basic
method of controlling an aircraft.
They were used in early aircraft and are currently
used in
small aircraft where the aerodynamic forces are
not excessive.
A manual flight control system uses a collection of
mechanical parts such as
rods, tension cables, pulleys and
sometimes chains to transmit the
forces applied to the cockpit controls
directly to the control surfaces.
Turnbuckles are often used to adjust control
cable tension.
A turnbuckle, stretching screw or bottlescrew is a
device for adjusting the tension or length of ropes,
cables, tie rods and other tensioning systems.
Increases in the control surface area required by large
aircraft or
higher loads caused by high airspeeds in small aircraft
lead to
a large increase in the forces needed to move them,
consequently complicated mechanical gearing
arrangements were developed to extract maximum
mechanical advantage in order to
reduce the forces required from the pilots. This
arrangement can be found on bigger or higher
performance propeller aircraft such as the Fokker 50.
 Some mechanical flight control systems use servo
tabs that provide
aerodynamic assistance.
Servo tabs are small surfaces hinged to the control
surfaces.
The flight control mechanisms move these tabs,
aerodynamic forces in turn move, or
assist the movement of the control surfaces
reducing the amount of mechanical forces needed.
This arrangement was used in early piston-engine
transport aircraft and in early
jet transports.
The Boeing 737 incorporates a system, whereby in
the unlikely event of
total hydraulic system failure,
it automatically and seamlessly reverts to being
controlled via servo-tab.
Aircraft may be controlled by various means depending
upon their purpose and configuration such as:-
Elevator, rudder, aileron for Conventional aircraft
elevons on delta wings, for pitch and roll control, if there
is no horizontal tail;
flaperons, or trailing edge flaps-ailerons extended along
the entire span:
tailerons, or stabillisers-ailerons (independently
controlled);
swing wings, with an articulation that allows sweep angle
variation;
canards, with additional pitch control and stabilisation.
Requirements to be met by Aircraft
Control System
The aircraft control system should ensure:-

1) Control at all conditions of flight with the required accuracy

2) Movement of the control levers in accordance with the

desired reflexes of man

3) Acceptable magnitude of forces applied by the pilot to the

control levers

4) Possibility for counteracting failure of components ( e.g

autopilots, dampers, etc….) providing time for pilot to interfere
with control of the aircraft

5) Preventing the aircraft from getting into impermissible flight

conditions ( unintentional pitch-up, inertia rotation, etc…) with
the aid of special devices
The basic principles of control of aircraft depends upon the following for
pilot or automatic device
1) Using reading of instruments (signals of respective
transmitters)
2) Observing the aircraft attitude and other parameters
of motion

3) compares their actual values with the preset ones

4) Analyze the condition

5) Takes a decision

6) Act upon the control levers to execute it

we can now define the aircraft control as follows
 Definition of aircraft
Control
An elementary definition is :-
That component of the aircraft which connects
the pilot to the moving aerodynamic surfaces
used to manoeuvre the aircraft.
Thus control of the aircraft is the
process of changing the
forces and moments acting on the aircraft to
ensure the required flight path.
Thus as a result of Pilot or Automatic Device action

The control surfaces are deflected to change

the forces and moments acting on the aircraft.

The degree of sufficiency of control action depends

on the
aircraft response to this action.
That is control of aircraft is possible in case of
feedback
The aircraft control system should provide

1) Sources of information on behaviour of the

aircraft as a result of control action
(gyro horizon, altitude indicator, air speed indicator,
altimeter, etc……….)

2) Devices for analyzing the information obtained

and generating a solution ( Pilot or Autopilot )

3) Actuating units by which the control surfaces

are deflected
 Aircraft control system may be classified by…..

a) The source of energy spent for deflection of

control surfaces
* Manual, by pilot’s muscle force
* Boosters, by use of energy of foreign source
b) By the degree of pilot’s participation in the
aircraft control
* Non-automatic
* Semiautomatic
* Automatic
The pilot acts on the aircraft through the controls thus
changing its attitude and speed of flight.

He determines the nature of these actions by the

discrepancy between the actual and programmed flight
conditions, thus the
pilot and the aircraft form a single system,
where as the control of the aircraft is a process comprising a
number of successive actions of the pilot and maneuvers of
the aircraft.
 The Pilot Role

a) Sensing current motion of the aircraft

b) decision making on next motion
c) Computing appropriate control signals,
including appropriate limitations
d) Converting control signals of his brain to
power in his muscles
e) Sensing response of aircraft and providing
feedback as necessary
The success of flight depends :-

1) on efficiency of the pilot.

2) control system

3) aircraft combination
 Modern aircraft
The modern aircraft control system comprises a
plurality (more than one) of systems operating
both independently and jointly with each other.
The main system is
The air path control, that is
a) speed
b) altitude control
Additional control

is for
a) Wheel braking
b) Steering
c) Retraction and extension of landing gear
d) Landing devices
etc
 now

WHICH IS BETTER
MAN
OR
MACHINE
IN CONTROL OF AIRCRAFT
 The machine
a) The machine responds quicker and at higher force than man
b) correct and uniform action i.e the machine operates more
uniformly and accurately.
C) Accuracy and speed of calculations irrespective of problem
difficulty
d) good memory as it is capable of fast storage of information

e) Has multi-channel action

f) Ability of registering signals transmitted by radio waves, infra-red

and ultraviolet beams, etc….
 The man
a) Man features a neuromuscle delay of about 0.25- 0.4
seconds
b) Has the ability to combine and restore the events, images
c) Has logic thinking, can draw general conclusions out
side the machine abilities from data
d) Has selective memory, that is ability to use experience
and knowledge of previously encountered situation for
the present case
e) Has creative thinking and imagination which are outside
his own experience and can predict probable situation.
Thus man is capable of changing the
plan of action according to the
situation at hand and working in emergency
better than a machine.
Connecting of man into the control system increases
flight safety,
widens application of the aircraft and simplifies the
automatic part of the control system
DIRECT CONTROL SYSTEM
As mentioned in before, the
linkage from cabin to control surface can be
fully mechanical if the aircraft size and its flight envelop
allow; in this case
the hinge moment generated by the surface deflection is
low enough to be easily contrasted by the
muscular effort of the pilot.
Two types of mechanical systems are used:
push-pull rods and cable-pulley.
In the first case a sequence of rods link the control surface to
the cabin input.
Bell-crank levers are used to change the direction of the rod
routings: fig. above sketches the push-pull control rod system
between the elevator and the cabin control column;
the bell-crank lever is here necessary to alter the direction of
the transmission and to obtain the
conventional coupling between stick movement and elevator
deflection (column fwd = down deflection of surface and pitch
down control).
 Bell Crank
A double lever in an aircraft control system used to
change the direction of motion.
Bell cranks are normally used in aileron controls and in
the steering system of nose wheels.
From this simplified description the main requirements of a
push-pull rod system are :--
First of all the linkage must be stiff, to avoid any unwanted
deflection during flight and due to fuselage elasticity.
Second, axial instability during compression must be
excluded; the instability load P for a rod is given by:
P =
where:
E = Young modulus;
I = cross-section moment of inertia;
λ = reference length.
The same operation described before can be done
by a cable-pulley system, where
couples of cables are used in place of the rods.
In this case pulleys are used to alter the direction of
the lines, equipped with
idlers to reduce any slack due to structure elasticity,
cable strands relaxation or thermal expansion.
Often the cable-pulley solution is preferred, because
is more flexible and allows
reaching more remote areas of the airplane.
The fig shown is a functional diagram of the direct
control system whose main element is man, or pilot.
By acting on the control lever the pilot deflects the
control surfaces (elevators, rudders, ailerons, etc…………)
through a linkage.
This changes aerodynamic forces and moments of the
surfaces and the aircraft changes the parameters of its
movement
 In direct Control System the pilot has to exert a
high force to move the control surfaces as shown
on table below
•Control lever deflection
Control lever deflection Control lever force kgf
--------------------------------
Control lever force kgf

•Control lever deflection

Light aircraft --------------------------------
Heavy aircraft
• Control lever force
•--------------------------------
Control Lever Wheel Same Same

•LightLeftward
Rightward- aircraft 8 - 10 10 - 35
•Kg
•--------------------------------
Backward-Forward 15 - 20 30 - 50

•Heavy aircraft20 -30

Pedals 30 - 100
To ease the load on the pilot the control surfaces
are supplied by tabs (so as to ease their
deflection) of named types as below
Balance Tabs
The tabs are installed on the control surface.
When the control surfaces are deflected the
balance tabs deflect in the opposite direction, re-
distributing pressure in the control surface and
decreasing the value of the hinge moment
Servo Tabs
* In large aircrafts the control surfaces are operated by
power operated hydraulic actuators controlled by valves
moved by control yoke and rudder pedals. An artificial
feel system gives the pilot resistance that is proportional
to the flight loads on the surfaces.
•In the event of hydraulic system failure , the control
surfaces are controlled by servo tabs in a process known
as manual reversion.
•In the manual mode the flight control column moves the
tab on the c/surface and the aerodynamic forces caused
by the deflected tab moves the main control surface
Servo Tabs

In this type of tabs, the pilot while moving the

control lever deflects a small servo tabs installed
at the trailing edges of the control surfaces.
Owing to the hinge movement of the tab, the
freely suspended control surface
deflects in the opposite direction.
Trim Tab

In long flight with deflected control surfaces, the

pilot decrease the forces on the lever by
deflecting trim tabs operating on the balance tab
principle but having independent control.
DIRECT CONTROL SYSTEM
COMPONENTS
 Control Levers

They are so designed that their deflection

correspond to movement of the pilot
i.e control stick forward.. Nose down
control stick leftward.. Roll……………………….etc
The elevator ( pitch control) and aileron ( roll control )
are controlled on the light aircraft by one control lever
ie. The control stick.
To ensure independent pitch and roll control at deflection of the
control stick,
two degrees of freedom are necessary. Fig. below shows control for
roll and pitch of a fighter aircraft.
 On Large Planes
Where the high control forces are required,
control columns are moved by two hands as
shown below
 Rudder Control
To control rudder foot pedals are used. On light aircraft usually the
parallelogram type of pedals are used

while on heavy aircraft the suspended type are used. Movement

of pedals cause movement of rods running to rudders
 Control Linkage

Linkage may be rigid, flexible and combined.

The rigid linkage as below ;-
In the rigid linkage, rods are connected in series to each
other through levers, bellcranks and roller guides.
Rods are subjected to stress (compression/tension ) at
deflection of control surfaces and also
experience vibration loads and dynamic loads at take-off
and landing.
To decrease vibration of rods, rods natural oscillation
frequencies should be shifted from the resonant
conditions.
Roller Guides
They serve as support for the rods and the distance between
them shows the
effective length of the rod.
The roller may be made of steel, plastics, duralumin etc….
At turn points levers or bellcranks are used.
There are two types of bellcranks, supporting ones which
prevent the control rod from touching the surrounding parts and
skin by
changing the direction of movement.
The other type is the differential bellcrank which ensures
the differential deflection of the ailerons.
Upward deflection of the aileron is higher than downward
deflection so as to ensure the required values of lift forces of the
wing.
Flexible Linkage ( Cables)
Cables are of diameters 2.5 – 8 mm.
Cables are made of steel wire with ultimate
strength of 170 – 240 Kgf/sq.mm .
To ensure the required length and tension of
cables turnbuckles are used.
Cable linkage is lighter than the rigid one,
destruction stresses of the braid are very high.
Extension of cables during service results in play
of control linkage and delays deflection of control
surfaces..
Hence maneuvering aircraft use rigid linkage that
offers high combat survivability.
The disadvantage of the rigid linkage is the need
for high free volume.
At temperature variation extension of
duraluminium rods and fuselage are similar while
that of
steel and fuselage differs.
PROBLEMS and TROUBLES of CONTROL SYSTEM

In the course of operation of the control system with flexible

linkage, cables when in tension
extend and sag, thus decreasing stiffness of linkage.
Tension of cables varies with temperature, thus cable tension
should be periodically checked.
Tension is adjusted by turnbuckles.
In some modern aircraft cable tension is performed by spring
compensators provided in the linkage.
1) Trouble of Cable Linkage

* Breakage of cable wires at the point of contact

with guide pulleys and fairleads in the pressurized
cabin wall.

* Wear out of pulleys and bearings.

* Disconnection of turnbuckles at considerable

extension of turnbuckles rods from the body.
2) Trouble of Rigid Linkage

It is subject to alternate-sign stresses and

considerable static and vibration loads in the course of
service.
Under the action of these loads cracks may appear
on the tie rods,
attachment units, bellcranks and levers.
Owing to certain eccentricity of load application, the
tie rods are pressed to the rollers which leads to wear
of the tie rods in service.
Elevon and Differential Stabilizer Control Pattern

On some aircraft separate surfaces serve for a double purpose.

On tailless planes with no horizontal tail, the elevons serve as
ailerons and elevators simultaneously.

In case of ailerons deflect in opposite directions and as

elevators the deflect on same direction.
In the following example a comparison was
carried out to show if large control can be
operated or deflected by the pilot muscles or he
should be assisted by an automatic or
semiautomatic control devices.
As shown in fig cylinder bore D = 50 mm.
Output shaft diameter d = 30mm
System efficiency Ƞ = 0.9
Load from control surfaces F = 960 kg
Linkage arms ratio (a/b = 4), (c/e = 3), (e/f =4), (g/h =3/2)
a) Determine the pressure at booster ( cylinder)
input if pressure in the return pipe Pret = 3 kg/cm2

b) load on control column with and without

pressure in booster ( cylinder)
 Solution
 
SEMIAUTOMATIC AND AUTOMATIC
CONTROL SYSTEMS
 THE INDIRECT CONTROL SYSTEM

Flight at high speed or near supersonic speed increases

hinge moments and forces on the control lever and practically
become impossible for pilots to apply the required muscle
force on controls.
 Thus

a power drives should be introduced to

decrease the control forces.
The devices use sources of power to deflect the
control surfaces.
Thus, control system with servo-drive which
ensure the required characteristics of aircraft
controllability are called
** The Indirect Control System**
By deflecting control lever *1* the pilot act on the distribution
device *4* ( this may be a contact of a potentionmeter or a valve ).
The energy is fed through supply line *5* to power drive *6*
which moves rod *7* and deflects control surface *8* overcoming
force Mh/h.
All loads are transmitted from the control surface to the power
drive and from it to the airframe through attachment unit *3*.

The pilot applies only forces required to overcome friction and

move the members of the distribution device.
There must be a feedback between the power drive and the
distributing device.

To improve dynamics of the controlled movement various

automatic devices are included in the system.
A few control surfaces on aircraft are operated by electrical
motors.
Hydraulic system has demonstrated to be a more suitable
solution for
actuation in terms of reliability,
safety,
weight per unit power and flexibility, with respect to the
electrical system, then becoming the common tendency on
most modern airplanes: the
pilot, via the cabin components, sends a signal, or demand,
to a valve that opens ports through which high pressure
hydraulic fluid flows and operates one or more actuators.
The valve, that is located near the actuators, can
be signalled in two different ways:
mechanically or electrically;
mechanical signalling is obtained by push-pull rods, or more
commonly by cables and pulleys;
electrical signalling is a solution of more modern and sophisticated
vehicles.
The basic principle of the hydraulic control is simple, but two
aspects must be noticed when a powered control is introduced:
1. the system must control the surface in a proportional
way, i.e. the surface response (deflection) must be function
to the pilot’s demand (stick deflection, for instance);

2. the pilot that with little effort acts on a control valve must
have a feedback on the manoeuvre intensity.
The first problem is solved by using (hydraulic) servo-
mechanisms, where the
components are linked in such a way to introduce an
actuator stroke proportional to the pilot’s demand;
many examples can be made, two of them are
sketched in fig. below,
the second one including also the hydraulic circuit
necessary for a correct operation.
In both cases the control valve housing is solid with the
cylinder and the cabin
column has a mechanical linkage to drive the valve
spool.
In the first case, the
cylinder is hinged to the aircraft and, due to
valve spool displacement and ports opening,
the piston is moved in one direction or the other;
the piston rod is also linked to the valve spool
stick, in such a way that
the piston movement brings the spool back
towards its neutral position; when this is reached,
the actuator stops, then obtaining a deflection
that is proportional to the demand.
In the second case the piston is constrained to the aircraft;
the cabin column controls the valve spool stick; this
will result in a movement of the cylinder, and this brings
the valve housing again towards the valve neutral position, then
resulting in a stroke proportional to the pilot’s demand.
The hydraulic circuit also includes an emergency valve on the
delivery segment to the control valve; if
the delivery pressure drops, due for instance to a pump or
engine failure, the emergency valve
switches to the other position and links all the control valve
inlets to the tank; this
operation hydraulically unlocks the system, allowing the pilot for
manual actuation of the cylinder.
 Hydraulic Power Drive

The hydraulic boosters or actuators which are

hydraulic servo drives are most widely used in the
control system.
They are intended to boost the control signals and
deflect the control surfaces in accordance with
displacement of the control levers.
The hydraulic booster or actuator comprises actuating cylinder
*4* and distributing slide *1* which directs a fluid flow through
channels *c* and *d* to either cavity of the cylinder. The
feedback is effected by arranging body *2* 0f the slide valve on
the rod of piston *3*.
When pilot pulls control stick backward, channel *c* ( and
chamber B ) is connected to the pressure line of the hydraulic
system while channel *d* ( chamber A ) to the return line.
Owing to the difference in pressure the rod and
connection to the control surface move and deflect the
control surface.
Boosters or actuators are available with movable rods or
movable body with cylindrical and flat slide valve, valve
distributor …etc…

Overlap of hydraulic lines passages is controlled by

the slide valve to ensure reliable locking of the
hydraulic system channels to decrease leakage
 FEEDBACK

For all control systems there must be a feed back.

The feed back in the indirect control system is either by
connecting a hydraulic actuator according to reversible pattern or by
artificially creating forces on the control levers with the use of
various loading mechanisms.
 REVERSIBLE PATTERN
This is provided to transmit
part of the force from control surface to
control lever through linkage and points * 2, 3, 4-
6 as shown on diagram
 ARTIFICAL FEEL
The efficient feed back is the artificial feels which composes of
spring.
Pneumatic and hydraulic types.
The spring artificial feels are widely used.
When deflecting an elementary single- spring feel to either side,
the
pilot compresses the spring feeling the force on the control stick.
The value of this force is proportional to the stiffness of the spring
and its deformation.
Variation of the force on the control stick is proportional to the
deflection of the stick.
The artificial feel is introduced in powered
systems, acting
directly on the cabin control stick or pedals.
The simplest solution is a spring system, then
responding to the pilot’s demand with a force
proportional to the stick deflection; this solution
has of course the limit to be not sensitive to the
actual flight conditions.
A more sophisticated artificial feel is the so-called
Q feel.
This system receives data from the pitot-static probes,
reading the
dynamic pressure, or the
difference between total (pt) and static (ps) pressure, that is
proportional to the aircraft speed v through the air density
ρ:
Pt –Ps = ρV2
This signal is used to modulate a hydraulic cylinder that
increases
the stiffness in the artificial feel system, in such
a way that the pilot is given a contrast force in the pedals or
stick that is also proportional to the aircraft speed.
 Triple Spring Feel Mechanism
When flying at high subsonic speeds the efficiency of the
control surfaces increases, and hence, smaller
angle of deflection are required.
Due to this aircraft with wide range of speeds use artificial
feels with non-linear characteristics.
This is a sort of triple spring feel mechanism.
Here the small spring has high stiffness and the large spring
has low stiffness.

At low deflection of stick the small spring is compressed and at

more deflection of the stick the large spring will be
compressed.
Acceptable loading characteristics of the control
levers are ensured by installing two parallel
artificial feels,
one for take off and landing and another for
flying at high speed so as to restrict or prevent
unacceptable deflections that may put the
aircraft in an unacceptable situation.
The spring feels mainly used in aileron and rudder
control systems but on
elevator (stabilizer ) fail to ensure satisfactory loading.
Some aircraft has an automatic feel control which is an
electric mechanism that varies the arm length
connecting the spring depending on
ram pressure and flight altitude.
The actuating signal is fed to the electric mechanism
from control unit *1*
To increase reliability and to decrease the weight ,
all the automatic devices on the modern aircraft
are integrated into
one automatic control system.
 Disadvantages of Mechanical and Hydro-
Mechanical Systems
* Heavy and require careful routing of flight
control cables through the aircraft using pulleys,
cranks, tension cables and hydraulic pipes.
• They require redundant backup to deal with
failures, which again increases weight.
• Limited ability to compensate for changing
aerodynamic conditions
* Dangerous characteristics such as stalling, spinning
and pilot-induced oscillation (PIO), which depend
mainly on the stability and structure of the aircraft
concerned rather than the control system itself, can
still occur with these systems
• By using electrical control circuits combined with
computers, designers can save weight, improve
reliability, and use the computers to mitigate the
undesirable characteristics mentioned above. Modern
advanced fly-by-wire systems are also used to control
unstable fighter aircraft
 FLY BY WIRE
CONTROL SYSTEM
in the near future
Fly By Light
In the 70’s the fly-by-wire architecture was developed,
starting as
an analogue technique and later on, in most cases,
transformed into digital.
It was first developed for military aviation, where it is now a
common solution;
the supersonic Concorde can be considered a first and
isolated civil aircraft equipped with a
(analogue) fly-by-wire system, but in the 80’s the
digital technique was imported from military into civil
aviation by Airbus, first
with the A320, then followed by A319, A321, A330, A340,
Boeing 777 and A380
This architecture is based on computer signal processing and is
schematically shown in fig. below:
the pilot’s demand is first of all transduced into electrical signal
in the cabin and
sent to a group of independent computers (Airbus architecture
substitute the cabin control column with a side stick);
the computers sample also data concerning the flight conditions
and servo-valves and actuators positions;
the pilot’s demand is then processed and sent to the actuator,
properly tailored to the actual flight status.
The flight data used by the system mainly depend on the aircraft
category; in general the following data are sampled and
processed:
pitch, roll, yaw rate and linear accelerations
angle of attack and sideslip;
airspeed/Mach number, pressure altitude and
radio altimeter indications;
stick and pedal demands;
other cabin commands such as landing gear
condition, thrust lever position, etc.
The full system has high redundancy to restore the level of
reliability of a mechanical or hydraulic system, in the form of
multiple (triplex or quadruplex) parallel and independent
lanes to
generate and transmit the signals, and independent
computers that process them; in
many cases both hardware and software are different, to
make the generation of a common error extremely remote,
increase fault tolerance and isolation; in some cases the
multiplexing of the digital computing and signal
transmission is supported with an
analogue or mechanical back-up system, to achieve
adequate system reliability.
 Basic Operation
* When a pilot moves the control, a signal is sent to a
computer, the signal is sent through multiple wires
(channels) to ensure that the signal reaches the
computer.
•When there are three channels being used this is
known as 'Triplex'.
•The computer receives the signals, performs a
calculation (adds the signal voltages and divides by the
number of signals received to find the mean average
voltage) and adds another channel.
These four 'Quadruplex' signals are then sent to
the control surface actuator and the surface
begins to move.
• Potentiometers in the actuator send a signal
back to the computer (usually a negative voltage)
reporting the position of the actuator.
•When the actuator reaches the desired position
the two signals (incoming and outgoing) cancel
each other out and the actuator stops moving
(completing a feedback loop).
 Stability
* Three gyroscopes fitted with sensors are fitted
in the aircraft to sense movement changes in the
pitch, roll and yaw axes.
* Any movement (from straight and level flight
for example) results in signals being sent to the
computer which again moves the relevant
control actuators, however, the input is done
without the pilot's knowledge; the cockpit
controls do not move
The benefits of the fly-by-wire architecture are
different, and vary significantly between
military and civil aircraft; some of the most
important benefits are as follows:
• flight envelope protection (the computers will reject and
tune pilot’s demands that might exceed the airframe load
factors);
• increase of stability and handling qualities across the full
flight envelope, including the possibility of flying unstable
vehicles;
• turbulence suppression and consequent decrease of
fatigue loads and increase of passenger comfort;
• use of thrust vectoring to augment or replace lift
aerodynamic control, then extending the aircraft flight
envelope;
• drag reduction by an optimised trim setting;
• higher stability during release of tanks and
weapons;
• easier interfacing to auto-pilot and other
automatic flight control systems;
• weight reduction (mechanical linkages are
substituted by wirings);
• maintenance reduction;
• reduction of airlines’ pilot training costs (flight
handling becomes very similar in an whole
aircraft family).
For civil fly-by-wire aircraft in normal operation the
flight control changes according to the
flight mode: ground, take-off, flight and flare.
Transition between modes is smooth and the pilot
is not affected in its ability to control the aircraft:
in ground mode the pilot has control on the nose
wheel steering as a function of speed, after
lift-off the envelope protection is gradually
introduced and in
flight mode the aircraft is fully protected by
exceeding
the maximum negative and positive load factors (with and
without high lift devices extracted),
angle of attack,
stall,
airspeed/Mach number,
pitch attitude, roll rate, bank angle etc;
finally, when the aircraft approaches to ground the control
is gradually switched to
flare mode, where automatic trim is
deactivated and modified flight laws are used for pitch
control.
The control software is one of the most critical aspects of
fly-by-wire.
It is developed in accordance to very strict rules, taking
into account the flight control laws, and
extensive testing is performed to reduce the probability
of error.
The risk of aircraft loss due to flight control failure is 2x10-6
per flight hour for a sophisticated military airplane, that
anyway has the ejection seat as ultimate solution;
the risk is reduced to 10-9 per flight hour for a civil
airplane, were occupants cannot
evacuate the airplane during flight.
Fig. below shows, as example, the fly-by-wire layout for the
Airbus 340.
Three groups of personal computers are used on board:
three for primary control (FCPC), two for
secondary control (FCSC) and two for
high lift devices control (SFCC).
The primary and secondary computers are based on
different hardware;
computers belonging to the same group have different
software.
Two additional personal computers are used to store flight
data.
In the fig. the computer group and hydraulic
system that control each surface are
indicated (there are three independent hydraulic
systems on the A340, commonly indicated
as Blue, Yellow and Green).
The leading edge flaps are linked together, and so
are the
trailing edge flaps, and then they are controlled
by hydraulic units in the fuselage
The fig. shows a considerable redundancy of the flight control
system:
the inboard and outboard ailerons,
elevators and rudder are controlled by both the
primary and secondary computers and operated by the three
hydraulic sub-systems;
the high lift devices are controlled by their specific computers
and operated by the three hydraulic systems
(Blue and Green for the leading edge,Yellow and Green for the
trailing edge);
the vertical stabilizer, having a secondary role, is
controlled only by the secondary computers and operated by
two hydraulic sub-systems.
SO
 A fly-by-wire (FBW) system replaces manual
control of the aircraft with an electronic interface.
The movements of flight controls are converted to
electronic signals transmitted by wires and
flight control computers determine how to move
the actuators at each control surface to provide
the expected response.
The actuators are usually hydraulic, but electric
actuators are also used.
 By using electrical control circuits combined
with computers designers can save weight,
improve reliability, and use the computers to
mitigate the undesirable characteristics
mentioned above.
Modern advanced fly-by-wire systems are also
used to control otherwise unstable fighter
aircraft.
The term "fly-by-wire" implies a purely electrically-
signalled control system. However,
it is used in the general sense of computer-configured
controls, where a
computer system is interposed between the operator and
the
final control actuators or surfaces.
This modifies the manual inputs of the pilot in accordance
with control parameters.
These are carefully developed and validated in order to
produce maximum operational effect without
compromising safety
A FBW aircraft can be lighter than a similar design
with conventional controls.
Partly due to the lower overall weight of the
system components; and partly because
the natural aerodynamic stability of the aircraft
can be relaxed, slightly for a transport aircraft
and more for a maneuverable fighter, which
means that the stability surfaces that are part of
the aircraft structure can therefore be
made smaller.
As the computers continuously "fly" the aircraft,
pilot workload can be reduced.
It is now possible to fly aircraft that have relaxed
stability.
The primary benefit for military aircraft is more
manoeuvrable flight performance and so-called
"carefree handling"
In fly by wire control system, the pilot’s stick is
connected to Transducers which
convert stick movement into
Electrical Signals which are
transmitted along electrical cables through
Computers to
Servo-valves on the hydraulic power control units
which move the
flying control surfaces.
The computers ensure that the flight maneuver limits
are not exceeded
 Advantages of Fly
by Wire Control System
1) Elimination of conventional push-pull tubes, cables and
pulleys, cable tension regulators, feel units,
etc…………………………
2) Save a considerable amount of weight
3) Reduced maintenance time
4) Gust load alleviation by using ailerons and spoilers to
alleviate the effect of wing gust.
If an up gust causes one wing to bend upwards, fast acting
computers and accelerometers can oppose this movement
by
applying up ailerons or spoilers on that wing or if necessary on
both wings in order to reduce the aerodynamic lift and oppose
the effect of the gust. Thus reduces fatigue applied to the
structure and give smooth ride for passengers.
5) Automatic manoeuvre envelope protection

This ensures that flight manoeuvre envelope limits of

bank, pitch, yaw,
speed, angle of attack and *g* forces are not
exceeded.
6) Improved Handling of aircraft by respond to control
inputs exactly as the pilot wants.
7) Fuel saving , by flying the aircraft with the C of G aft
of the normal limit,
 the tailplane would not be required to provide a
down load as is usually the case.
Less wing lift would now be required with a
subsequent reduction in drag.
The smaller tailplane would result in
reduced weight and drag.
This results in significant fuel saving.
However an aft C of G results in instability and
only FBW control systems could fly aircraft safely.
Concept of Fly by Wire

The control system consist of a Computer link between the pilot’s

control and the control surfaces.
Movement of the pilot’s control would provide corresponding
proportionate movement of the control surfaces.
However to provide improved handling and to allow the aircraft to
fly with stability the computer must be made to do more.
The pilot could , for example, be able to make changes in the pitch
rate of the flight path rather than making control surface
movements.
This FBW system is called an * Active Control * system.
This system to be effective , it must use
Fast Acting Computers and Control Surface Actuators to minimize
the de-stabilizing effect of control delays.
The general layout of components of an active control system
the number of computers,
their functions,
the manner of cross comparing of input and output signals )
are called its
* Architecture *.
The manner in which the computers create control surfaces
movement and thus
aircraft movement is called
* Control Laws *
In all aircraft systems allowance must be made for partial or total
failure of parts of the system and
provision must be made for alternate operation.
Computer types used

Two types of electrical flight control computer are installed.

The Elevator and Aileron computer ( ELAC ).

The Spoiler and Elevator computer ( SEC ).

The primary functions of the two computers are :-

1) to control the aileron, elevator and the trimmable horizontal

stabilizer ( THS )
and

2) to provide spoiler control and alternate control of

elevator and the THS.
Two * ELAC * computers are installed to control and monitoring of
one actuator on each aileron and elevator as well as
control and monitoring of the Three electric motors which power
the *THS* actuator in normal operating mode.

Also there are three *SEC* computers type to provide

control and monitoring the spoiler actuators.
In addition *SEC* provide alternate control for the elevator and
the electric motors of the *THS* actuator.

There are three hydraulic systems operating simultaneously called

Blue, Green and Yellow. Power supply to computers is provided by
a back up generator.
PITCH CONTROL SYSTEM

Pitch control is by the trimmable horizontal stabilizer *THS* and the two elevators.

Each elevator is operated by two independently supplied electrically signalled hydraulic

actuators. One of them in active mode and the other in damping mode. Should the
active one failed the other takeover.

Autopilot inputs are sent into the system via the electrical control computers.

The THS can be controlled manually using a handwheel on the centre console in the
cockpit and is used in the event of total failure of the electrical control system.
The THS is operated by a fail safe screwjack driven
by two independently supplied
hydraulic motors and coupled by a dual
load path differential gear.

Electrical and automatic trim signals are

processed by the flight control computers which
control
three electric motors one of them is active.
 THE SIDE STICK

The side-stick controllers are used for

pitch and roll manual control.
1) The side sticks are installed on the captain’s and first officer’s
forward lateral consoles just forward of armrests on each
seat and coupled electrically. Each side stick is mounted on
a gimbal and mechanical linkages connect it to duplicated
pitch and roll artificial feel units and position sensing
transducers.

2) When one pilot wishes to take control the autopilot

disconnect button is used to signal the priority system.

3) An indicator shows which side-stick is being used.

4) When the autopilot on operation the side-sticks remain in the

neutral position.
The *ELAC* and *SEC*

The ELACs control the aircraft in pitch in the normal Law. This is
done by
sending commands to the left and right hand elevators and also by
sending longer term trim commands to the trimmable horizontal
stabilizer *THS*.

Should the ELACs be unserviceable or unavailable due to failures in

their supplies, *SECs*
Nos. *1* and *2* will take over their role and provide pitching
control ( the alternate Control Law ).
In the alternate control aircraft handling is same but many of the
envelope protection features are unavailable.
This include high angle of attack protection and pitch attitude
protection which form apart of the normal control Laws.

If there was a loss of all three inertial reference systems, then the
pitch direct law would be automatically selected.
Movement of side-stick in pitch results in direct movement of the
elevator control surfaces, C of G position and flap position
determining the total elevator movement available.
Complete Failure

A complete failure of the electronic flight control system in pitch i.e failure of both *ELACs* and both
*SECs* (1) and (2) would require the aircraft to be flown in pitch using the pitch trim wheel. This is
known as Mechanical pitch backup.
Roll and yaw in FBW systems are similar in principles.

Normal control Alternate control Direct control Mechanical

Law Law Law backup
I I I I
I I I I
Controlled by Controlled by Stick to elevator Mechanical
ELACs SECs Direct control Backup