Lead compensated engines-only flight control system
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorJeffrey Kahler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A backup engines-only flight control system accomplishes improved aircraft banking in response to commands by the use of a lead compensated transient differential thrust servo parameter. The lead compensated transient differential thrust servo parameter compensates for the ordinary sluggish banking response during engines-only flight control. Accordingly, because an aircraft equipped with the present invention will respond in a manner expected by pilots, safer backup engines-only flight control is achieved during emergency situations. The improvement comprises a means and method of detecting the magnitude of direction of commanded bank angle and generating a corresponding lead compensated transient differential thrust servo parameter.
Claims17
In an engines-only-flight control system using lateral thrust differentials between left aircraft engine and right aircraft engine to cause aircraft banking, wherein a pilot issues aircraft banking commands to the engines-only-flight control system by manipulation of an input device, the improvement comprising the introduction of a lead compensated transient differential thrust servo parameter applied between servos associated with said left and right aircraft engines to cause aircraft banking, wherein said lead compensated transient differential thrust servo parameter improves the responsiveness of the aircraft to aircraft banking commands.
An improvement for multiengine aircraft engines-only-flight-control systems based upon a statically proportional engine servo parameter applied between a left aircraft engine servo and a right aircraft engine servo to cause aircraft banking, the improvement comprising the addition of a transient lead compensated servo parameter to said statically proportional engine servo parameter, wherein said addition of said transient lead compensated servo parameter improves aircraft banking response.
A method of improving the responsiveness of engines-only flight control systems for multiengine aircraft based on lateral engine thrust differentials comprising the steps of:
- a. detecting the manipulation of an input device,
- b. quantifying the rate and direction of manipulation of the input device,
- c. filtering the detected and quantified manipulation into a transient differential thrust servo parameter, and
- d. applying the transient differential thrust servo parameter to a left engine servo and a right engine servo, wherein a pilot issues banking commands to the engines-only-flight-control system by manipulation of the input device, and the application of the transient differential thrust servo parameter improves the responsiveness of the aircraft to the banking commands.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.