Basics of FlyByWire

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Basics of Fly-By-Wire

• Colum Holtam
• Giles Jackson
• Mike Harding
• Alan Wilson
• Justin Garman

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Summary

• History evolution of control system
• Advantages of latest system
• Mechanical systems versus Mechatronic
• Flight control computer - system schematic
• Theoretical overview
• Developments and applications

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FLY BY WIRE

• The Wright brothers made the first controlled
  powered flight on 17th December 1903
• Control surfaces such as ailerons and elevators
• Later came Tailerons and vector thrust
• The old mechanical system for controlling
  aircraft worked using pulleys and wires to move
  the control surfaces the made the aircraft move
  in the three axis (pitch, roll yaw)
• As the demand for more performance from the
  aircraft increased, the ability of the pilot
  (i.e. physical strength) became insufficient

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Advantages of fly-by-wire

• Carefree handling automatic suppression of
  stalling and over-stressing
• optimised handling
• agility
• increased performance
• handling of vectored thrust
• reduced drag
• auto pilots
• reduced maintenance

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Mechanical vs Mechatronic

• Pitch/Roll Stick rudder pedals
• Steel wires and pushrods
• Hydraulic signals
• Artificial Feedback

• Small electronic unit mounted on the pilots
  armrest
• Electrical wires
• Electrical Impulses
• No force feedback Pitch rate/roll rate
• Analogue e.g Concorde, 1969
• Digital e.g. Airbus A310
• Airbus factor

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Basic Block Diagram Showing System Schematic
Block Functionality for pitch
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• A, b, c, d e are suitably located sensors for
  providing pitot and static pressures and local
  air flow measurements.
• Used to derive the precise velocity vector of
  the aircraft, that is both in magnitude and
  direction.
• This data is then used to calculate a suitable
  pitch for the aircraft.

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System Overview of Pitch Control
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Fly By Wire Control System Overview
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Applications of Fly-By-Wire
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The Eurofighter
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Eurofighter flight controls
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The future of Fly-By-Wire
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Summary of Fly-By-Wire

• Allows unstable aircraft to fly
• More reliable and safer than mechanical
  controlled aircraft
• More agile military aircraft
• Reduced maintenance
• Increased performance and efficiency

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Thank you

• Questions?