LATERAL AXIS

• Lateral axis passes through the wing tips from LH to RH. the rotation about this axis is
known as pitch.
• pitch changes the vertical direction of aircraft.
• The elevators are the control surface which changes the pitch.

LONGITUDINAL AXIS
• The logitudinal axis passes from nose to tail section of aircraft . The rotation about this axis
is called the roll.

• Rolling changes the orientatiion of aircraft with respect to the down force of the gravity.

• The ailerons re the control surface which changes the rolling motion of the aircraft. it
changes the bank angle by increasing the lift of the wing on one side and reduce on the
other.
VERTICAL AXIS:

• The vertical axis passes though the CG from top to bottom.

• Rotation about this axis is called yaw.
• It changes the direction of the nose where it is pointing at.
• The rudder is the control surface which effects the YAW.
• Ailerons also have the secondary effect on Yaw.
• All 3 axis move with the aircraft relative to the earth surface.
• For example, when the left wing is pointing downwards, its vertical axis is is
parallel to the earth and the lateral axis is perpendicular to the earth.
PRIMARY CONTROL SURFACE:
Ailerons
• Ailerons are fitted to the trailing edge of the wing near to the wing tip and move
in opposite direction.

• For example, when the control wheel is turned to the left, the left aileron moves
up and the right aileron moves down. This generates lift to the right wing and
reduces the lift to the left of the wing. This will effect the left turn of the aircraft
and moving the control wheel to the neutral will move the aeleron to its neutral
postion.

• However the aircraft will continue to the left till such time , the control wheel is
again moved to the right to bring the aircraft bank angle to zero posit
ELEVATORS:

• Elevators are mounted on the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer on each side of the
fin.
• The elvators move up and down
• Pushing the control stick forward move the aircrfat pitch down and moving the stick back,
move the elevators down and aircraft pitch up.
• Many aircraft use stabilator which is a movable horizontal stabilizer in place of elevator.
• Rudder is mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer which is part of
empennage.
• Pushing the rudder pedal to left cause the rudder to the left and pushing the rudder to the
right cause the rudder to right which in turn push the aircraft to left and thus yawing to
the right direction.
• Centering the rudder cause the rudder to neutral and yawing stops.
SECONDARY EFFECTS OF CONTROLS:

Aileron:
• when lift is increased, the induced drag also increases.
• When the aileron is deflected to the right, the right aileron goes up and the left
ones goes down. the downed ailerong produces lift to effect the roll the aircraft
to right.
• At the same time the left ailerong produces induced drag and adverse yaw which
resist the aircraft from turning right. To counter the effect of adverse yaw, the
downgoing aileron is deflected less less than the upgoing aileron.
• The adverse yaw is more pronounced in light aircraft such as gliders. The adverse
yaw is counteracted by application of rudder.
RUDDER:

• The rudder is controlled by the application of the pedals and not by the stick.
• It is the primary control for yawing of the aircraft.
• It also serves to control the adverse yaw by application of the rudder control
surface.
• when the rudder is applied continuously, the aicraft will yaw intially and after
some time it will bank in the direction of yaw. If the rudder is applied to left, the
aircraft yaws to the left and resulting in increased speed of air over the wing
result in lift generated . The left wing drops since the wind speed is low on the
left wing compared to the right.
• Continued application of the rudder will have the rolling tendency and with
aircraft having dehydral wing, will have higher angle of attack than on the other
side of wing wll result in rolling in the direction of higher angle of attack. aircraft
with anehydral will show the opoosite effect.
TURNING THE AIRCRAFT:

• When the aircraft is banked, the lifting force is divided into two components.
• One component flift act vertically and the other act horizontally.
• When the total lift is unchanged with the weight of aircraft remaining constant,
the vertical component will come down , if the vertical component of lift which is
coming down is not countered, it requres positive increased elevator movement
to counter and therby maintain the same level of flight.
• This cannot continue since at a given air speed the aircraft can only produce a
finite amount of lift. As the load factor G is increased, it will impose additional
weight on the aircraft which could possibly stall if not corrected by increasing the
Engine power.
Turning the aircraft
ALTERNATE MAIN CONTROL SURFACES:

• some aircraft do not have the standard control surfaces.

• Instead of having elevators at the back of the stabilizers,they have V shaped tail
section.

• The ‘V’ shaped tail section perform the function of the elevators and rudder and
are known as Ruddervators.

• Similarly aircraft have Elevons in ‘Delta wing’ configuration . They perform the
dual role of elevators and ailerons.
SECONDARY CONTROL SURFACES:
• The spoilers are basically used to disrupt the airflow over the wings. This allows
the aircraft to loose altitude . They are also known as lift dumpers.
• But this also increases the drag when deployed over the wings.
• spoliers can be used asymmetrically to affect the roll of the aircraft and are
called spoilerons.

Flaps:
• Flaps are mounted on each wing on the trailing edge on the inboard section near
the wing root.
• They are deflected downward to effectively increase the curvature of wing. The
flaps increases the coeffcient of lift and therfore reduce the stalling speed.
• They are used on low speed with high angle of attack flight including the take off and
landing mode.
• Some aircraft is equipped with flaperons which are known as inboard ailerons.
• These devices primarily function as ailerons, but on some aircraft will droop when the
flaps are deployed thus acting both as flap and roll control inboard ailerons.

Slats:
• Known as the leading edge devices and are the extension to the front wing for lift
augumentation and intended to reduce the stalling speed by altering the airflow over the
wing.
• Two types: Fixed slats and Retractable slats.
• The fixed slats have excellent STOL and slow speed capabilities and the retractable slats
provide reduces stalling speed during take off and landing but the slats retracted during
cruise.
Air Brakes:

• Are also called spoilers are used to increase drag. On an airlines the spoilers
are series of panels on the upper surface of the wings which is deployed
upwards to disrupts the airflow thus adding the drag. The numbers of panels
deployed and the degree to which it is deployed depends on the rigime of
flight in which it is used.
• If pilot must decend quickly without increasing the speed, then he select a
speed brake setting in which certain panels only deploy to create most
efficient reduction in speed without overstressing the wing.
• Ground spoilers are similar to flight spoilers except that they deploy dring
touchdown of the aircraft.
• The ground spoilers dump the lift generated and allow the wheels to take the
entire load while assisting the braking effect. Engine thrust reverser also
deflects the exhaust forward and reduce the landing run of the aircraft.
Trimming : Trimming controls allows the pilot to balance the lift and drag forces
produced by the wings and control surfaces to a wide range of load and speed. This reduces
the effort by the pilot to maintain a desired flight altitude.

Elevator trim:
• The trim tab allows the pilot to reduce the manual input needed to maintain position. The
basic trim tab is attached to the trailing edge of elevator. The elvator trim is adjusted by
rolling the little black wheel forward( up) and the aircraft nose goes up.
• Elevator trim balances the control force necessary to maintain aerodynamic down force on
the tail. For slow flight, maintaining the nose up attitude requires trimming . The elevator
trim is correlated to the speed of airflow over the tail, thus airspeed changes to the aircraft
require trimming.
• An important design parameters for the stability of the aircraft is when trimmed for level
flight. Any disturbance due to gusts or turbulance will get damped over a short period of
time and aircraft will return to the trimmed flight speed.
• Except for the light aircraft, the trim tabs has very little effect on the elevators
thus unbale to get the desired force and motion in the aircraft.
• In order to avoid , the whole tail horizontal stabilizer is adjutable in pitch so that
the pilot can choose positive or negative lift from the tail plane while reducing
the drag from the elevators.

Control Horn:
• The control horn is a section of the control surface protruding beyond the hinge
point. It generates force which tends to increase the deflection thus reducing
control pressure experianced by the pilot. it also incorporates counter weight to
balance the control surface and prevent it from fluttering.
Spring trim:

• In simplest case the trimming is done by mechanical spring with appropriate

force to augument pilots control input.
• Trim often applies to elevators, rudder and aileron. The use of this is to counter
effect the slip stream.
• or to counter effects the CG being on one side.
• For example, if more fuel is stored on one side than the other, shift in CG are
counter effected by application of yhe trim.
 DIRECTION OF
TYPE MOTION ACTIVATION EFFECT
EXTERNAL CONTROL SURFACE- BOEING 737
OPERATING METHODS:
• A small or low speed aircraft will have cockpit controls connected directly
through the cables or push pull rods to the control surfaces. some aircraft will
have the mechansim of both cables and push poull rods.

• The force exerted by the pilot is directly transfered through them to the control
surfaces.

• On high performace aircraft, the force exerted on the control surfaces are high
and it is difficultfor the pilot to move the controls. In order to avoid this, hydraulic
actuators are deployed to assist the pilot in moving the controls and thereby
reduce the pilot fatigue and improve the performance. Because of these
advantages, such systems are extensively used which include automatic pilot,
automatic landing and thrust augumentation system.
OPERATING METHODS
CABLE CONTROL SYSTEM:

• In cable control system, the cockpit controls are directly connected to

the high strength steel cables.
• The movement of the control column places tension on the cable. As the
cable passes through the fuselage, it is supported by the pulleys.
• The pulleys also enables the direction of the cables to be changed.
• Tension of the control cable is critical.
• This kind of control system is only useful in low speed general avaition
aircraft.
• The pilot feeling the force on the control column is directly proportaional
to the speed and magnitude of the deflection.
• Therefore the higher the speed, the greater is the force on the control
column.
 PUSH PULL ROD SYSTEM:

• Here the cockpit control is connected to the control surfaces with push pull rod
system, which consists of hollow aluminium tubes whose ends are fitted with
threaded inserts and clevis or with a rod end bearing.

• The entire connecting system are properly rigged for length adjustments, proper
alignments by the connecting rod end which are screwed in and out of by
threaded end of the inserts, then the check nuts are screwed against the rod end
fittings to lock them in place.
PUSH PULL ROD SYSTEM
TORQUE TUBE SYSTEM:

• A torque tube is a hollow metal tube used to transmit torsional or twisting force
between actuating control and the devices being controlled.
• Large aeroplane control systems use torque tubes between an electric and
hydraulic motor and a jackscrew to actuate flaps and other control surfaces.
 AERODYNAMICALLY CONTROL SYSTEM
The movement of control tabs are controlled from the cockpit . When the
control wheel is moved, the control tabs moveup on one side and move
down on the other side. This in turn move the aileron movement
aerodynamically in the opposite direction thus effectinga roll on the aircraft.
AERODYNAMICALLY CONTROLLED AILERON SYSTEM
TAB BACK UP
FLIGHT DECK CONTROLS- BOENG 737
FLIGHT DECK CONTROL WHEEL
FLIGHT DECK CONTROLS-AIRBUS-300
 HYDRAULICALLY ASSISTED CONTROL SYSTEM
• As the aircraft increase in size and weight, their controls become increasingly
difficult to handle.

• The power boosted system like power steering in automobile helps in easing
the pilot effort to operate the controls.

• A hydraulic actuators is in parallel to the mechanical operation of the

controls, and in addition to moving the control surface also moves control
valve which allows the hydraulic fluid directing the actuator to operate and
move the control surfaces.
HYDRAULIC POWER OPERATED SYSTEM
HYDRAULIC ACTUATOR WITH CONTROL CABLES
MECHANICAL FOLLOW UP CONTROL
SERVO CONTROL
OPERATION OF SERVO CONTROL UNIT
TRIM CONTROL
Since fly by wire gives no feel to the piloton control stick,the artificial
feel unit is designed to give feel force to the pilot proportaional to
the loads of the control surface.
aircraft . the figure shows the most common system lay out
PITCH TRIM SYSTEM LAYOUT
HYDRAULICALLY DRIVEN THS ACTUATOR
ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN TRIM ACTUATOR
 HIGH LIFT DEVICES

• Flaps which only increasthe camber has fixed hinge point and are
moved by hydraulic actuators.The trailing edge of the flap move
downwards immediately if the extend flap lever is moved in the the
cockpit.

PLAIN FLAP
 SPLIT FOWLER FLAP

• FLAPS which increase the surface area and camber have rollers specially
installed on the track.

• Once the flap extend lever is operated in cockpit, the flaps move backwards on
the rollers along the track thus increasing the wing area followed by trailing
edge that increases the camber.

• To perform this movement a system of screw spindles and rotary actuators are
used. the system is usually driven by electrical motors or by hydraulic motors.

• Such flap system layout is similar to the slat system layout.The flap handles can
be set to diffreent position depeending on the flight phase
• Different max speed is applied for each
settings. It is not allowed to extend the
flaps at every flight phase. possibility of
structural damage could occur if the
settings are exceeded.

• Manufacturers decide the settings with

respect to the speed.On modern aircraft
the limitation envelop is fed into
computer which do not allow to exceed
the settings.If the pilot chooses to
extend the flap against the settings, the
computer will not allow to be extended
and give an audio warning to the pilot
with possible visusl indiation in cockpit.
FLAP SYSTEM LAYOUT
FLAPS CONFIGURATION
FLAP TRACK SCREW JACK OPERATED
 LEADING EDGE FLAPS
• Leading edge flaps are also known as krueger flaps are installed below
the forward wing edge as shown in diagram.The flaps are having two
position- extended or retracted.
• The command for this position comes from the flaps handle which are
operated either hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically.

UNDERNEATH THE WING

LEADING EDGE
LEADING EDGE FLAPS
 SLATS
• Together with flaps the slats are used for lift augumentation. The slats are
installed on the tracks which are attached to the leading edge of the wing.
The operation of the slats are usually by mechanical cables, hydro-mechanical
or pneumatic. The PCU, power control unit moves the slats though mechnical
transmission

SLATS EXTENDED
 PINION DRIVEN SLAT

• The figure shows the mechanism of typical slat. the extension of flaps and slats
must be done at the same time. Therfore there is only one control handle in the
cockpit to operate the flaps and slats.An indication system in the cockpit for slats
similar to flaps indiaction is availible.
HYDRAULIC ACTUATOR DRIVEN SLAT
 ELECTRICAL POSITION TRANSMITTER

Different type and methods of indications are in use to show the acual position of the
flaps in cockpit. The signal transmission is done mechanically or electrically by using
position pick up and indicator which is anolog and digital type
ASYMMETRY POSITION PICK OFF UNIT
 ABBREVATIONS:
• LVDT- Linear variable diffrential transformer is a mechanical device for
measuring linear movement and converts Linear mechanical motion into
electrical current and voltage .

• Similarly RVDT- known as rotary variable differential trasformers are pick

ups to measure rotary mechanical motion into electrical pulses.

• WTP: Wing tip brake, the purpose of which is to hold and brake, stop
rotation of flap /slats transmission shaft when slat/flap control computer
sense asymmetry condition
WING TIP BRAKE ASYMMETRY POSITION PICK OFF UNIT
POSITIO AND ASYMMETRIC MONITORING
SCHEMATIC OF A 330 FLAP ACUATING SYSTEM
LIFT DUMP AND SPEED BRAKES:
spoilers surfaces over the wings with diffreent
surfaces used for different application
depending on the flight phase. They are
grouped as
Flight spoilers:
a. Roll spoilers for lateral control augumentaion
b. speed brakes in flight

Ground spoilers:
landing roll out or take off /abort
SPOILERS CONFIGURATION
TORQUE LIMITING:
• when high rates of control are to be produced, the movement of
control surfaces are subjected to excess load resulting in high amount of
stress on the structures.

• To safe guard the structures and run away condtions of the servo units
which can move the control surfaces to its maximum limits, torque
limiting is applied to the servo actuators by either to slip or completely
disengaged in case the preset torque limits are exceeded.

• The methods applied are usually by electrical, mechanical or electro

mechanical principles
IRREVERSIBLE SYSTEM:

• A Hydraulic power is said to be irreversible when the control forces are

transmited by the pilot via the hydraulic system to the other control surfaces.

• However the aerodynamic loads on the control surfaces due to air hitting them
are not transmitted back to the pilot.

• So any aerodynamic trim or control features such as trim tabs or balance tabs
fitted to a hydraulic power control system will have no effect. However they
may be fitted to a hydraulically assisted control system and thus maintain some
direct or cable input from pilot to control surfaces.
Q FEEL:
• The purpose of the system is to make the aircraft feel to the pilot like a
conventionally controlled aircraft. The system increases the pilots control
stiffness through jack springs as the function of the speed of the aircraft.
• The effort required by the pilot to move the control column is just to move
the control valve piston and control lever which is effortless since the control
surface movement is done by servo unit hydraulic power.
• Since no forces are felt by the pilot, the pilot has no feel of the aerodynamic
loads acting on the control surface. It is therfore necessary to incorporate an
artificial feel to the pilot at apoint between the pilot control and their
connection to the servo unit control lever.
• A spring force is usually adequate , however with rudder and elevators it is
common to use both spring force and variable hydralic force or a spring force
compressed by electric actuator to create the artificial feel.
MACH TRIM:
• In reponse to mach tuck, which is an aerodynamic effect where the
nose of the aircraft pitches down as the airflow around the wing
reaches supersonic speeds.
• The center of Pressure is a point on a wing where the lift forces acts.
• In low subsonic flight, the Center of pressure is usually stable for a
conventional aerofoil shape. and is located in the one quarter of the
way back from the leading edge.
• As the speed of aircraft increases, the C of P start to move aft
particularly at transonic speed of mach 0.7.
• As a result the diffrence in location between the CP and CG causes
the aircraft to pitch down.
• so more elevator or horizontal trim is required to keep the aircraft
level. So the mach trim system provides automatic repositioning of
the elevator as a function of Mach number.
RUDDER LIMITER:

• The rudder control has the greatest aerodynamic authority over the aircraft
control. so much so that an aggressive input from the pilot can cause a
catostrophical damage to the structures.

• Large aeroplanes are provided with rudder travel limiter to protect the
empennage from the over load in case of inadvertant application of rudder
control at high speeds.

• Modern aircraft has computer controlled rudder travel limiter which receives air
speed electrical signals from the air data system for travel limiting the rudder
movements
RUDDER TRAVEL LIMITER
GUST LOCKS:

• Gust locks the flight controls when the aircraft is parked and prevent them from
moving and damage the controls and related system .

• Most modern aircraft do not need them as flight controls are hydraulically
controlled and when the hydraulic system is at rest, a dampening device in the
actuator automatically locks the flight controls in the neutral position or the
actuators themselves work as natural dampers if the hydraulic system are
depressurised.
• Aircraft with cable operated system may be fitted with gust locks. The locking
system consists of the lever on the rear of the pedestal connected to spring
loaded pins on each of the control surfaces through a cable system. The pins are
spring loaded to the off position in flight. If the cables fails in flight, the control
remains unlocked.
STALL PROTECTION SYSTEM:

• Most of the aircraft are provided with stall protection warning system. the
system consist of computers which activates the prevention and warning
system mechanism as a function of AOA, flaps, slats, horizontal stabilizer
position and air speed.
STALL SPEED CHART
Stick shaker:
• A stick shaker is a mechanical device which noisely and rapidly vibrate the
control yoke of an aircraft warning the pilot of an imminent stall.

• It is normally connected to the control column of the large civil aircraft.

• The stick shaker is a component of the aircraft stall system which is composed
of wing mounted AOA sensors that connected to the avionics computer. The
computer receive the input from the AOA sensor and a variety of other flight
systems.

• When the data indicate an immenent stall condition,the computer alerts both
the stick shaker and auditory alert.
Stick shaker system
• The stick shaker is composed of electric motor connected to the deliberately
unbalanced wheel. when actuated the shaker induces a forceful noisy and
entirely shaking of the control yoke.

• The shaking of the control yoke matches the frequency and amplitude of the
stick shaking that occurs due to the airflow separation in conventional aircraft
as they approch the stall speed.

• The stick shaking is intended to act as a back up to the auditory stall alert in
cases where the flight crew may be distracted.
STICK PUSHER:

• A stick pusher is a device installed on the aircraft to prevent the aircraft

entering aerodynamic stall.
• To prevent the aircraft entering the stall , an hydraulic or
electromechanical device that pushes forwad the control yoke and move
the elevators down thereby moving the nose to pitch down whenever
the AOA reaches a predetermined level.
• And ceases to push the control yoke when the AOA falls sufficiently.
• The system for this purpose is known as stick pusher.
• when stall condition is detected, Aural warning is activated, the stick
pusher moves the control yoke forward, reduces the AOA and increase
the speed.
Pneumatic activated stick pusher system
• The system is controlled by two stall warning computers. To activate the
pusher, both computers must detect high AOA.

• The aircraft must be designed in such that unwanted activation of the stick
pusher are avoided.

• In some aircraft, the stick pusher can be overpowered by the pilot.in other
aircraft, the stick pusher can be manually overpowered.

• But is always designed in modern aircraft to constantly monitor the

critical parameters like AOA, airspeed, wing flap setting and load factor.
Action by pilot is not required to recognise the problem and react to it.
Stall Strips:
On small aircrat where there are no slats installed, stall stips is
installed.
The purpose of the stall strips is to produce small vortex which
reaches the horizontal stabilizer.
If the AOA is extreme, the pilot can feel the vibration caused by the
vortex via the elevator surface.
STALL STRIPS
 ROTARY WING AERODYNAMICS
Collective pitch control on a helicopter;
• The control lever is located on the left side of the pilots seat and is operated
with a left hand. The collective is used to make changes in the pitch angle of
the main rotor blades and does this simulteneously or collectively as the name
implies.

• The pitch angle of the rotor blade is the angle between the chord line and the
refernce plane containing the rotor hub or the rotor plane of rotation.
Cyclic pitch changes:

• The cyclic pitch control is usually projected upward from the cockpit floor
between the pilot legs or between the two pilot seats in some models. This
primary flight control allows the pilot to fly the helicopter in any direction of
travel: forward, rearward,left and right.
• The cyclic pitch is the individual angling of the blades on each revolution of the
rotor.
• where as collective pitch is the angeling of all blades by an equal amount in
unison.
HELICOPTER FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM:

Two types of main rotor control system:

a. Spider type
b. Azimuth star type
The purpose is to transfer the control movement from the non rotating control
system to the main rotor head so that both cyclic and collective pitch can be
made.

Spider system:

Collective Pitch changes: They are achieved by the vertical movement of the
control spider within the hollow drive shaft.
 SPIDER SYSTEM
collective pitch change
control lever spindle
Cyclic pitch changes:
• The cyclic pitch changes are
achieved by inclining the
control lever spindle in the
desired direction: This tilts the
spider arm which are connected
to the blade pitch change rods.
PILOT INPUT TO THE SPIDER
SYSTEM:
There are three inputs to the spider
control system. They are
a. Collective pitch
b. Cyclic- fore and aft
c. Cyclic- left and right
SPIDER SYSTEM-collective control movement
 AZIMUTH STAR SYSTEM

The azimuth star systm is most common adopted in the helicopter control system:
It consists of
• Rotating star- connected to the blade leading edges
• Fixed star- connected to the pilot input
• 3 servo jacks- to the pilot input
• Rotating scissors- which allows rotating star to rotate with the blades
• stationary scissors- which hold the fixed star stationary
AZIMUTH STAR SYSTEM
Cyclic pitch changes
• cyclic is split in two parts- fore and
aft, left and right
• For left and right cyclic, a single servo
jacks extends or retracts to tilt the
star which slides to the spherical steel
ball. This imaparts a swash plate
action on the rotor head and will
change the pitch individually
Collective Pitch:

• The collective pitch control, or collective lever, is normally located on the left side of the
pilot's seat with an adjustable friction control to prevent inadvertent movement. The
collective changes the pitch angle of all the main rotor blades collectively (i.e., all at the
same time) and is independent of their position in the rotational cycle.

• Therefore, if a collective input is made, all the blades change equally, and as a result, the
helicopter increases or decreases its total lift derived from the rotor.

• In level flight this would cause a climb or descent, while with the helicopter pitched
forward an increase in total lift would produce an acceleration together with a given
amount of ascent.

• If a helicopter suffers a power failure a pilot can adjust the collective pitch to keep the rotor
spinning, generating enough lift to touch down and skid in a relatively soft landing.
CYCLIC PITCH:

• The cyclic is used to control the main rotor in order to change the helicopter's direction of
movement. In a hover, the cyclic controls the movement of the helicopter forward, back,
and laterally. During forward flight, the cyclic control inputs cause flight path changes
similar to fixed-wing aircraft flight; left or right inputs cause the helicopter to roll into a
turn in the desired direction, and forward and back inputs change the pitch attitude of the
helicopter resulting in altitude changes (climbing or descending flight).

• The control is called the cyclic because it changes the mechanical pitch angle or feathering
angle of each main rotor blade independently, depending on its position in the cycle. The
pitch is changed so that each blade will have the same angle of incidence as it passes the
same point in the cycle, changing the lift generated by the blade at that point and causing
each blade to change its angle of incidence, that is, to rotate slightly along its long axis, in
sequence as it passes the same point.

• If that point is dead ahead, the blade pitch increases briefly in that direction. Thus, If the
pilot pushes the cyclic forward, the rotor disk tilts forward, and the helicopter is drawn
straight ahead. If the pilot pushes the cyclic to the right, the rotor disk tilts to the right.
• For fore and aft cyclic pitch changes, a
second servo jacks is incorporated in a
position of 90 degree to the left and
right servo jack.

• The operation of this servo jack will tilt

the star in the direction 90 degree to
that required for left and right cyclic
What is SWASH PLATE:
• A swashplate is a mechanical device that
translates input via the helicopter flight controls
into motion of the main rotor blades.
• Because the main rotor blades are spinning, the
swashplate is used to transmit three of the pilot's
commands from the non-rotating fuselage to the
rotating rotor hub and mainbladesSwashplate on
a helicopter

1 Non-rotating outer ring (blue)

2 Turning inner ring (silver)
3 Ball joint
4 Control (pitch) preventing turning of outer ring
5 Control (roll)
6 Linkages (silver) to the rotor blade
• The swashplate consists of two main parts: a stationary swashplate and a rotating
swashplate.

• The stationary (outer) swashplate is mounted on the main rotor mast and is
connected to the cyclic and collective controls by a series of pushrods. It is able to
tilt in all directions and move vertically.

• The rotating (inner) swashplate is mounted to the stationary swashplate by

means of a bearing and is allowed to rotate with the main rotor mast.

• An anti-rotation link prevents the inner swash from rotating independently of the
blades, which would apply torque to the actuators.

• Both swashplates tilt up and down as one unit.

 Collective pitch changes:

• A third servo jack is incorporated into

the star system.
• To obtain the collective pitch change,
all the servo jacks have to operate
simulteneously. For that to happen, a
mixer unit is required.
• For collective pitch, the whole
star(Swash plate) will slide up and
down on the main shaft and thus
change the pitches of all the blades by
an equal amount.
MIXER UNIT
Anti-torque pedals

• The anti-torque pedals are located in the same place as the rudder pedals in
an airplane, and serve a similar purpose—they control the direction that the
nose of the aircraft points.

• Applying the pedal in a given direction changes the tail rotor blade pitch,
increasing or reducing tail rotor thrust and making the nose yaw in the
direction of the applied pedal [5]
Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a control system used in modern aircraft that replaces conventional mechanical
and hydraulic controls with an electronic interface. The system processes pilot inputs through a
computer, which sends signals to actuators that move the control surfaces, such as the wings and
tail.
Here's how it works:
1. Pilot inputs: The pilot inputs commands on a control stick or yoke, which sends electronic signals
to a computer.
2. Flight control computer: The flight control computer (FCC) processes the pilot inputs and sends
digital signals to the actuators.
3. Actuators: The actuators are electric motors or hydraulic systems that move the control surfaces.
The size and direction of the movement depend on the signals received from the FCC.
4. Feedback: The FBW system includes sensors that measure the aircraft's position, speed, altitude,
and other parameters. This information is fed back to the FCC, which adjusts the control surfaces to
maintain stability and respond to the pilot's commands.
The advantages of FBW are that it reduces the weight and complexity of the aircraft, improves safety,
and allows for more precise control. However, it requires sophisticated software and redundant
 What is Fly-By-Wire (FBW)

• Fly by wire is a modern flight control system that replaced the manual flight
controls with an electronic interface.

• This means the pilot's input is converted into electronic signals transmitted by
wires and thus got its name.

• It also uses a computer to determine how to move each control surface to get
the desired performance from the aircraft. Improved fully fly-by-wire systems
interpret the pilot's control input as the desired outcome and calculates the
control surface activities required to deliver that outcome; this results in
different combinations of the rudder, elevator, aileron, flaps, and engine controls
in different situations using a closed loop.
 Need for Fly-by-wire (FBW)

• The traditional mechanical flight control systems were heavy and risky because
the high tension lines that controlled the surfaces were subjected to constant
wear and tear making it prone to snapping from fatigue stress.

• If the tension lines snapped the pilots would certainly crash because there were
no backup systems.

• Most importantly this type of control system relied on the muscular power of the
pilot and he had to physically fight the control sticks during non-normal situations
like wind-shear or stalls.

• This made it unsafe in large jet aircraft. The Hydro-mechanical control system
gave a solution to the physical strain the pilots had with the traditional
mechanical controls but also added a considerable amount of weight to the
aircraft making it less efficient.
The basic operation of Fly-By-Wire

Closed feedback loop control

• The pilot commands the stick to make the aircraft perform a certain maneuver
by moving the sidestick or control column, the flight control computer then
calculates what control surface movements will cause the plane to perform that
action and issues those commands to the electronic controllers for each
surface.

• The controllers at each surface receive these commands and then move
actuators attached to the control surface until it has moved to where the flight
control computer commanded it to. The controllers measure the position of the
flight control surface with sensors.
FLY BY WIRE SCHEMATIC
To make the computations easier and more accurate, flight control computers are fed a lot of
information from aircraft systems. The following is a list of data that is sent to the flight
control computers:
Pilot inputs:
• The pilot inputs are the most important set of data the flight control computers need, as it
is this that determines how the aircraft is to be maneuvered.
Inertial and air data:
• The inertial data comes from the Inertial Reference System (IRS). Some of the IR data
includes aircraft heading, roll, pitch, yaw, etc. The air data information comes from the Air
Data Computers (ADC). These data include calibrated airspeed, angle of attack, altitude, etc.
Accelerometers and gyrometers:
• The accelerometers and gyrometers are placed at various points on the aircraft.
Accelerometers measure the aircraft's vertical and lateral acceleration, while the
gyrometers measure the roll rate, pitch rate, and yaw rate. These data are highly important
for flight control computers.
Radio altimeters:
• In many fly-by-wire aircraft, the flight control laws require to be tweaked at
different phases of the flight.
• To determine that the aircraft is coming into land, the flight control computers
use the aircraft height data from the radio altimeters.

Landing gear control system:

• This system feeds the flight control computers information about the position of
the landing gear and whether the oleos are compressed or extended. The latter is
used to determine if the aircraft is airborne or on the ground.
• For instance, the ground spoilers on the wings can only come up when the gear
oleos are compressed. Hence, the flight control computers need this data before
commanding the spoilers up.
 RUNWAY FAILURES:
• A runway failure is a situation where the slats or the flaps part away from the power
control unit (PCU) due to a mechanical failure. In such a case, the flaps or the slats are free
from the real control and may move due to the aerodynamic forces experienced in flight.

• In the Airbus A320, there are two computers that control and monitor the flaps and the
slats. They are known as the Slat flap control computers (SFCCs). Each SFCC controls the
flap and the slats through the hydraulic systems of the aircraft. For instance, the SFCC 1
controls the flaps through the green hydraulic system and the slats through the blue
hydraulic system. The SFCC 2 on the other hand, controls the flaps through the yellow
hydraulic system and the slats through the green hydraulic system. In any given
circumstance, both SFCCs controls either the flaps or the slats using the two hydraulic
systems. For example, the green and yellow hydraulics together move the flaps.
A 320 flap schematic
• The flaps and the slats in the aircraft are controlled by the PCU through a
gearbox which runs an output shaft, which then powers the flap/ slat torque
shaft. This torque shaft then transfers power to the individual flap actuators
which moves the flaps and the slats. To ensure the correct positioning of the
flaps/ slats, their positioning need to be monitored. To achieve this, the SFCCs
receive data from position pick off units. One of the pick off units called the
Feedback position pick off unit (FPPU) is stationed at the flap or the slat PCU.
This FPPU send signals directly from the PCU output shaft to the SFCCs.
 APPU,FPPU

• The other pick off units called the Asymmetry position pick off units (APPU)
are placed on the offset gearbox (connected to the main torque shaft) of the
rotary flap actuator at the wing tips.

• There are two APPUs, each located at the right and the left wing tip. The main
difference between the FPPU and the APPU is that the APPU gives a direct
flap/ slat positioning as the unit moves with the flap itself.

• The FPPU on the other hand just gets the data from the flap/ slat output shaft.
This way if, the flaps or the slats were to runaway, there will be a positional
difference between the data sent by the FPPU and the APPU to the SFCCs.
FLY BY WIRE SYSTEM
FBW Cockpit Configuration

• Pilot has a side stick controller by which manual control of the pitch and roll are
controlled.
• The two side stick are not mechanically linked and are independant.
• Two pairs of pedals are rigidly connected give pilot mechanical control of the
rudder.
• pilot control the speed brakes located at the center console.
• pilots use two hand wheel interconnected to control trimmable horizontal
stabilizer.
• Pilot use single switch to control the triming of the rudder trim.
 Computers: Qty-07
Qty-2 ELACs( Elevator and Aileron computer)
• For-Normal elevator / stabilizer control and aileron control
Qty-3 SECs( spoilers and elevators computer)
• For- spoilers control and standby elevator and stabilizer control
Qty-2 FACs(Flight augumentation computer)
• For electrical rudder control

In addition 2 FCDC is provided:

• Flight control data concentrator which acquire data from ELAC and SEC
and send it to electronic control system (ECS)and Centralized Fault
Dispaly System(CFDS)
FLY BY WIRE COMPUTER SYSTEM

1. FMGC Flight
management
guidance computer
2. ADIRU-Air data
inertial reference
unit
3. LGCIU-landing
Gear control and
interface units.
4. FCDC:Flight control
data concentrator
5. SFCC: Slat,Flap
control computer
• FCDC- Flight control data concentrator: They recive data from ELAC and SEC
computer for indication, recording and maintenance purposes. The FCDC stores
the maintenance data and delivers failures indication.
• FMGC: The flight management and flight guidance are mainly controlled from
Multi purpose control and displayunits(MCDU) and flight control units(FCU)
• ADIRU: Air data inertial refernce unit is a key component of the systemwhich
supplies air speed, angle of attack,and altitude information to the pilot
instrument system.
• LGCIU:landing gear control and interface units control the extensionand
retractionof the gearand the operation of the doors.They also provide
information on the landing gear to ECAM ( Electronic centralised aircraft
monitor) for display and sends signals if the aircraft is in flight or on ground.
1.ELAC-Elevator
aieleron computer
2. SEC-spoiler
,elevator computer
FLY-BY-OPTICS (FBO)

Aircraft designers continue to enhance flight control systems. Where fly-by-wire

systems are able to use computers to control the position of multiple flighcontrol
surfaces, fly-by-optics further improve the ability of the system to transfer data.

Fly-by- optics networks are able to transfer data at higher speeds than wired
systems. Fly-by-optics systems, also known as fly-by-light, are more immune to
electrical interference that may affect fly-by-wire systems.
FLY-BY-WIRELESS:

The next generation of flight controls use fly-by-wireless systems. This is

Similar to fly-by-wire systems but fly-by-wireless networks offer a reduction in
weight of the aircraft by removing the extensive bundle of wires used in fly-
by-wire aircraft.

The weight savings further translate into a measure of efficiency. Another

benefit of the fly-by-wireless system involves reduced maintenance.

Through years of service, the fly-by-wire harnesses will develop maintenance

issues with connectors, corrosion,broken wires, etc. Every connection becomes
a potential point of failure.
Removing the wires from the flight control network, or reducing the number of
associated wires, saves maintenance costs over the life of the aircraft.
 Advantages of FBW system

1. Weight saving, the mechanical components linking the primary control

surfaces to the control column is considerable.
2. Fuel saving:
3. Reduced maintenance
4. Improved handling
5. Enhanced safety
6. Automatic manoeuvre envelope protection
7. Gust lock alleviation
 Dis advantages of FBW system
• All the FBW system is electrical and electronics, so that electromagnetic
interference such as lightening strikes could be a problem.

• The system has back up facilities such as duplication and triplicationof

hardware and software.