Aircraft Control System Analysis

Flight Control – Technical Summary

By Nitin Farmah 76293290

Flight Control – Technical Summary

By Nitin Farmah 76293290

When flying an aircraft, it needs to be controlled. The control can be done either by a human or a computer; it is much easier, safer, faster and reliable to do so through the use of a computer. A Stability Augmentation system manages the control surfaces of an aircraft and modifies their movements to make the aircraft more stable. It can be used to eliminate effects such as Short Period oscillations, Phugoid oscillations and similarly prevent dutch roll and spiral modes. By use of this stability augmentation coupled with a rate control system a flight management system can be initially designed. Rate control systems manage the pilots demand for movement of a control surface such that it remains within the working characteristics of the actuator and controls the sensitivity of movement of the surface relative to stick inputs. This report looks at methods of creating controllers for both stability augmentation and rate control and the validity of these designs. It is found that closed loop feedback systems provide the best response characteristics and can be designed to function in both stable and unstable flight conditions.

When flying an aircraft, it needs to be controlled. The control can be done either by a human or a computer; it is much easier, safer, faster and reliable to do so through the use of a computer. A Stability Augmentation system manages the control surfaces of an aircraft and modifies their movements to make the aircraft more stable. It can be used to eliminate effects such as Short Period oscillations, Phugoid oscillations and similarly prevent dutch roll and spiral modes. By use of this stability augmentation coupled with a rate control system a flight management system can be initially designed. Rate control systems manage the pilots demand for movement of a control surface such that it remains within the working...