Electric control member, a rotary wing aircraft, and a method

An aircraft comprising:

• at least one main rotor contributing at least in part to providing the aircraft with lift;
• at least one propulsion system distinct from the main rotor, the propulsion system generating an additional thrust to contribute at least in part to causing the aircraft to advance;
• an electric control device having a support, manipulation means movable relative to the support by a person, a first measurement system that takes a first measurement of a current position of the manipulation means relative to a neutral position, a second measurement system that takes a second measurement of the current position of the manipulation means, the first measurement system and the second measurement system being independent and dissimilar, and a processor unit that compares the first measurement and the second measurement and generates a control signal as a function of either (i) the current position of the manipulation means when the first measurement and the second measurement correspond to the same position for the manipulation means or (ii) the neutral position when the first measurement and the second measurement do not correspond to the same position for the manipulation means;
• and
• wherein the processor unit is connected to the at least one propulsion system to control the additional thrust, at least in part, the control signal requesting a variation rate for the additional thrust transmitted to the at least one propulsion system.

A method of controlling a propulsion system of an aircraft, the aircraft further having a manipulation means that is movable relative to a support by a person, the method comprising:

• generating a first measurement of a current position of the manipulation means by a first measurement system;
• generating a second measurement of the current position of the manipulation means by a second measurement system, wherein the first measurement system and the second measurement system are independent and dissimilar;
• comparing the first and second measurements;
• and
• generating a variation rate for controlling the propulsion system to generate an additional thrust as a function of the position of the manipulation means relative to a reference, the variation rate being generated as a function of a measured position of the manipulation means when the first and second measurements correspond simultaneously to the measured position, the variation rate being set at zero when the first measurement and the second measurement do not correspond to the same position.