Direct-Drive Control of Aircraft Stability Augmentation

A method of providing stability augmentation in an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving mechanical movements representative of pilot commands;
• receiving mechanical movements representative of stability augmentation commands;
• mechanically summing the mechanical movements representative of pilot commands and the mechanical movements representative of stability augmentation commands to yield mechanical movements representative of position commands;
• and
• transmitting the mechanical movements representative of position commands to a control system.

A stability augmentation system comprising:

• a master linkage;
• a first linkage coupled to the master linkage and operable to receive movements representative of pilot commands;
• a stability augmentation motor;
• a second linkage coupled between the stability augmentation motor and the master linkage and operable to receive movements representative of augmentation commands from the stability augmentation motor;
• and
• a third linkage coupled to the master linkage and operable to transmit movements representative of blade position commands to a blade control system in response to the movements representative of pilot commands and the movements representative of augmentation commands.