Introduction to Fly-by-Wire Flight Control Systems: The professional pilot's guide to understanding modern aircraft controls

David Kern

Dec 2021 · Kern Aerospace, LLC

About this ebook

The #1 guide to understanding the "why and how" of fly-by-wire flight control systems. This book is an approachable and easily understandable must-read for aviation professionals!

 

Why don't new aircraft designs allow the pilots a mechanical control connection? This book explains how fly-by-wire fixes the top 5 problems with mechanical controls for high performance aircraft. Rather than describe a particular aircraft’s design with confusing acronyms, readers will get a "behind the scenes" understanding for the critical concepts that apply to any modern aircraft. Because these design principles are easily described and understood, readers of this book will be armed with knowledge as they approach their flight manual procedures.

 

Including:

- Problems with mechanical flight controls

- Advantages of fly-by-wire

- How and why can fly-by-wire control systems fail?

- Why are four computers better than one or two?

- Explanations of the control laws used by business jets, fighters, and airliners

- What sensors are needed, and how the system maintains control when sensors are lost

- Design considerations for risk mitigation in case of component failures

 

Buy this book to read on your next layover!

About the author

David Kern is a graduate of the US Air Force Test Pilot School and US Air Force Academy. David is an Associate Fellow with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Member of the Society of Flight Test Engineers, and currently serves as a flight test pilot for the Aircraft Certification Service with the Federal Aviation Administration. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with seven type ratings, and has logged time at the controls of over 80 different types of aircraft. In 2011, he was the USAF F-16 project test pilot for the Collier Trophy-winning Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS). David is a devoted husband, proud father of two awesome kids, and when not flying all kinds of aircraft enjoys woodworking, camping, hiking, cooking and music. His previous publications include "Flight Test Techniques for Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar", and "Accelerated Development of Flight Tested Sensors and Systems" (AIAA # 2009-1744).