The Fort Worth Division of General Dynamics has been heavily involved with failure-tolerant flight control systems for almost 20 years through production of the F-111 and the F-16. The need for survivability after failure is most obvious on the F-16, which has the world's first production fly-by-wire flight control system. Fly-by-wire is an absolute necessity on the F-16 because the aircraft was designed to be statically unstable and cannot be controlled without the artificial stability provided by the flight control system. Because of difficulties in analytical definition, several external factors may not be included in the failure analysis of flight control systems. These factors, although not directly a part of the flight control system, can render redundancy useless if not considered. Examples of these external factors are pilot interface, ground maintenance, structural resonance, environmental conditions, indirect electrical hazards, and other system failures. These factors are not unique to the F-16 but are common to all aircraft with fly-by-wire flight control systems. This paper discusses examples of how several of these factors manifested themselves in the development of the F-16 and how the F-16 flight control system has evolved to minimize their effect. One of the mose significant evolutions to aid in the isolation and resolution of problems is the time sequenced data provided by the F-16 maintenance memory.

Proceedings of a symposium co-sponsored by the Air Force Historical Foundation and the Air Force History and Museums Program. The symposium covered relevant Air Force technologies ranging from the turbo-jet revolution of the 1930s to the stealth revolution of the 1990s. Illustrations.

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!

Get a complete understanding of aircraft control and simulation Aircraft Control and Simulation: Dynamics, Controls Design, and Autonomous Systems, Third Edition is a comprehensive guide to aircraft control and simulation. This updated text covers flight control systems, flight dynamics, aircraft modeling, and flight simulation from both classical design and modern perspectives, as well as two new chapters on the modeling, simulation, and adaptive control of unmanned aerial vehicles. With detailed examples, including relevant MATLAB calculations and FORTRAN codes, this approachable yet detailed reference also provides access to supplementary materials, including chapter problems and an instructor's solution manual. Aircraft control, as a subject area, combines an understanding of aerodynamics with knowledge of the physical systems of an aircraft. The ability to analyze the performance of an aircraft both in the real world and in computer-simulated flight is essential to maintaining proper control and function of the aircraft. Keeping up with the skills necessary to perform this analysis is critical for you to thrive in the aircraft control field. Explore a steadily progressing list of topics, including equations of motion and aerodynamics, classical controls, and more advanced control methods Consider detailed control design examples using computer numerical tools and simulation examples Understand control design methods as they are applied to aircraft nonlinear math models Access updated content about unmanned aircraft (UAVs) Aircraft Control and Simulation: Dynamics, Controls Design, and Autonomous Systems, Third Edition is an essential reference for engineers and designers involved in the development of aircraft and aerospace systems and computer-based flight simulations, as well as upper-level undergraduate and graduate students studying mechanical and aerospace engineering.