Maneuver enchancement and gust alleviation system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsDagfinn Gangsaas, Daniel C. Norman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention provides a system for enhancing the performance of an aircraft during flight. The aircraft, which includes at least two control surfaces, such as stabilon and trailing edge flaps, includes devices for: generating a signal representative of the optimum normal acceleration from signals representative of the aircraft's flight status, generating a signal representative of the aircraft's actual normal acceleration, comparing the optimum signal to the actual signal, and generating a command to alter the position of either one or both of the aircraft's control surfaces to reduce any differences between the optimum and actual normal acceleration signals.
Claims12
A system for providing precise normal acceleration maneuver response of an aircraft based on input commands while simultaneously reducing any deviations from a precise commanded normal acceleration response due to gusts, the aircraft having a flight status and at least two control surfaces that produce pitching moments and lift and which may be adversely coupled, the control surfaces being responsive to control surface commands that are functions of the input commands and the gusts, the control surface commands being integrated such that for all frequencies of response the response to gusts does not oppose the response to the input commands and the response to the input commands does not oppose the response to the gusts, comprising:
- (a) means for generating a signal representative of a derived commanded normal acceleration (Nz.sub.c) of the aircraft from the input commands;
- (b) means for generating a signal representative of the actual normal acceleration response (Nz) of the aircraft;
- (c) means for taking the difference between the derived commanded normal acceleration signals to the actual aircraft normal acceleration signals;
- and
- (d) means for generating the control surface commands to alter the positions of two or more of the control surfaces to reduce any differences between the derived commanded normal acceleration signals and the actual aircraft normal acceleration signals in response to the differences, between the desired normal acceleration of the aircraft and the actual normal acceleration and other input signals representative of the aircraft flight status, regardless of the frequency of response of the desired commanded normal acceleration and the frequency of response of the actual aircraft normal acceleration due to the gusts.
A method of providing precise normal acceleration maneuver response of an aircraft based on input commands while simultaneously reducing any deviations from a precise commanded normal acceleration response due to gusts, the aircraft having a flight status and at least two control surfaces that produce pitching moments and lift and which may be adversely coupled, the control surfaces being responsive to control surface commands that are functions of the input commands and the gusts, the control surface commands being integrated such that for all frequencies of response the response to gusts does not oppose the response to the input commands and the response to the input commands does not oppose the response to the gusts, comprising the steps of:
- (a) generating a signal representative of a derived commanded normal acceleration (Nz.sub.c) of the aircraft from the input commands;
- (b) generating a signal representative of the actual normal acceleration response (Nz) of the aircraft;
- (c) taking the difference between the derived commanded normal acceleration signals to the actual aircraft normal acceleration signals;
- and
- (d) generating the control surface commands to alter the positions of two or more of the control surfaces to reduce any differences between the derived commanded normal acceleration signals and the actual aircraft normal acceleration signals in response to the differences, between the desired normal acceleration of the aircraft and the actual normal acceleration and other input signals representative of the aircraft flight status, regardless of the frequency of response of the desired commanded normal acceleration and the frequency of response of the actual aircraft normal acceleration due to the gusts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.