Questions tagged [flight-controls]
Use for cockpit controls (trim, yoke, etc). Use [control-surfaces] for the surfaces that actually move.
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Does the routine flown by the Thunderbirds in the F-16 feature true sustained knife-edge flight?
Does any aerobatic routine flown by the USAF Thunderbirds in the F-16 feature true sustained knife-edge flight?
By "true sustained knife edge flight" we mean that the aircraft is maintaining ...
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Ailerons deflection of the F16 in take off and landing gain?
Let's say you are at a safe altitude and landing gear is down and the aircraft is in To/L gains and you want to do aileron roll and apply full left (or right ) stick to do the rolling maneuver.The ...
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What causes the "dead band" phenomenon during takeoff on the Boeing 737?
During takeoff, the Boeing 737 encounters a distinctive "dead band" phenomenon after the initial pitch reaches approximately 10 degrees. Essentially, a slight increase in back pressure is ...
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What does the C* (Cstar) parameter demand ?(A320)
I have been reading a LOT of research papers and many articles, but none of them tell how the C* parameter in Airbus is used for the vertical augmentation of the aircraft.
I am aware that with a ...
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Doubt in the Coriolis component of the net force acting on the aircraft
I dig a little and got to know that the force equation in 6DOF are nothing but a mathematical depiction of the fact that for a translating & Rotating body in 3D,The net force is the Translational ...
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Elevator / horizontal tail effectiveness at high speeds?
Take for example a jet fighter, when at low speeds vs high speeds, airspeed will differ a lot. As the turning moment is due to the lift force from the tail and lift increases quadratically with ...
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What happens to ADIRU/FAC AP etc, when Pitot probes fail?
Situation: Suppose due to a bird strike pitot 1 is blocked with debris and radome is dented causing inconsistent airspeed indication between P2 and P3 (due to unequal airflow). This happens at about ...
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Do aircraft using only spoilerons for roll control, with no conventional ailerons, have a crossover airspeed?
Airplanes generally have a crossover airspeed (a minimum airspeed below which directional control of the airplane cannot be maintained in the event of a rudder hardover). This is because, as airspeed ...
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How can I control the flight path angle (or the ROC) with throttle in Simulink?
I need to implement an autopilot for my 3DoF (longitudinal motion) aircraft model in Simulink. My model is nonlinear, but linearizing it in Simulink hasn’t been an issue.
I’m trying to develop a ...
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Pitch control in PX4 autopilot
I am trying to translate controller diagram of fixed wing px4 attitude control into mathematical form. While going through the controller diagram Fixed-Wing Attitude Controller looking into PX4 github ...
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why stabilator has a lower travel limit for down movements?
Within the POH of my aircraft, in a part titled "Control Surfaces Travel Limits", the manufacturer states:
Stabilator: Up 18° --- Down 3°
Why stabilator has a lower travel limit for ...
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How to develop motion model for RC plane
I'm interested in controlling an RC plane autonomously, and to do that I need a basic motion model.
How would I do this? Particularly without a wind tunnel?
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How was the 747 and DC-10's trimmable stabilizer actuated?
I was recently reading about Alaska Airlines Flight 261, a crash where understanding it in detail requires a bit of a deep dive into the trimmable stabilizer. On that particular aircraft (MD-80), it ...
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Questions with A220 control logics
I'm gonna take simulator check for new-hired co-pilots.
The company will do simulator test in A220 for new-hired copilots. Their applicants have no experience in jets, have experiences only in single ...
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Was differential thrust used in the P-38 to improve turn performance?
In the P-38 Lightning could differential thrust be used to improve turn performance ? If so what was the procedure ?
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Hexacopter Vn diagram/ flight envelope/ operational envelope
I am currently intern at a company. They are making agriculture hexacopter, now there is a confusion that does the hexacopter or multicopter have a V n diagram if yes how to make one what's the ...
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Can a person with cerebral palsy become a pilot?
I have mostly succeeded at everything I want in life except the one hobby I wish I could take up, and of course that hobby is flying, or I wouldn't be asking here.
Background
I graduated high school ...
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Approach miniumum when I lost WAAS during approach
I have a GPS receiver with WAAS.
During an LPV approach, I received an LOI message
That means I only lost WAAS, not RAIM.
Did I just need to change minimum to LNAV and continue the approach?
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What are the "Aft Bobweights" for on a full power hydraulic aircraft?
I like military aircraft, and recently I've been researching the feel system for the control stick.
It seems that there is something called bob weights to improve the feel of an aircraft. It's a ...
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After designing an autopilot, how does it affect aircraft modes?
Let's say an autopilot will be designed for the longitudinal axis. A pitch attitude hold will be made with a sas in the inner loop and a pid in the outer loop. How does this system change the phugoid ...
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How AeroVironment's Switchblades steer their flight?
I'm very intrigued with how AeroVironment Switchblades: SW-300, and SW-600, steer their flight. There are plenty of images and animations and to my observation, none of the Switchblades have ailerons, ...
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A transfer function relating jet engine thrust to pitch angle during a phugoid motion
Crossposted on Mathematics SE
I am doing a school project that requires me to find a transfer function that relates the thrust of a jet engine (which could change with time in one way or another) and ...
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Do the A220's controls have force feedback for dual pilot inputs?
Airbus's 3x0 series designs have often been criticized following incidents and accidents over the relative lack of haptic feedback on the control sticks. Dual input conditions give a visual (and aural?...
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E-2/C-2 left thumb control?
For some reason I ended up binge watching E-2s and C-2s doing shots and traps on YT. One thing caught my eye; especially during the approach, the pilot’s left thumb is in constant motion pressing a ...
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What's the more accepted notation used to label sensors present in turbo-jet engines?
I'm interested in learning what the proper (more accepted) notation used to label sensors present in turbo-jet engines is.
Came across a few examples such the ones shown below but would like to learn ...
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What is the maximal acceptable delay between pilot's input and flight control surface actuation?
While I was watching a cockpit video of an A330 landing in which the pilot was frenetically moving its sidestick, I wander what was the reaction time of this flight by wire system. Indeed, the time ...
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Why is it that when autopilot is maintaining cruise, we don’t feel the changes when lift increases?
When we’re inside an aeroplane, when we’re in cruise, why is it that we don’t feel the changes in altitude, lift and the adjustments for example from the elevator on the plane as the weight is burned ...
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How exactly is cruise maintained as fuel is burnt?
Can someone please explain how exactly cruise (I think it’s called straight, level and un-accelerated flight) is maintained for like an airliner please?
I’ve read a few answers on this website for ...
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Why is a flat turn less efficient than a coordinated turn?
How I understand a flat (rudder-only) turn:
AOA between relative wind and the fuselage of the airplane causes a sideslip in the direction of yaw.
Vertical stabilizer weathervanes into the relative ...
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What type of ailerons does the Piper Seminole has?
I understand that the PA44 has differential type ailerons, but do they also have frise type ailerons? Making them a combination of differential and frise type similar to the Cessna 150/152/172 models?
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Human error analysis in general aviation [closed]
can anybody help me with understanding more about the human factors analysis in general aviation Controlled flight into terrain. I am researching on the topic and I would really appreciate any help in ...
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Why do the A320’s primary flight controls have hydromechanical backups only for the rudder?
The A320 is primarily a fly-by-wire aircraft, with the pilots’ joystick and rudder-pedal inputs not going directly to the flight-control surfaces, but, rather, to the aircraft’s flight-control ...
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What are the key differentiating factors between the flight control systems employed in unmanned drones and those utilized in piloted aerial vehicles?
"I've come across open-source projects like ArduPilot that are commonly used with microcontrollers like Pixhawk for unmanned aircraft. However, I'm unsure whether these systems can be adapted for ...
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How elevator and ailerons affect attack and roll angles?
I was trying to model the flight of an aircraft and i need some function that expresses the change of attack and roll angle in function of the elevator and ailerons (respectively).
Does anyone have an ...
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How to slow down while maintaining altitude
Is reducing throttle/power already enough? Or do I have to adjust the pitch as well? If so, I suppose pitching up as well? If pitching up is needed as well, is it because as speed decrease, there is ...
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Was the miracle on the Hudson saved exclusively by the APU?
In the film Sully, (staring Tom Hanks) the APU is switched on straight after both engines rollback, why was this step necessary; Airbus said this was the "15th thing" to do on the checklist.
How or ...
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Boeing 777 PCU Synchronization of Duplicate Hydraulic Actuators for Control Surface Deflection
I have a question regarding the redundancy of hydraulic systems used to deflect the control surfaces of a Boeing 777 aircraft (or the like). We know that "the elevators, ailerons, and flaperons ...
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Are there guidelines for how rudder pedals should be shaped?
I've seen a lot of rudder pedal design, from simple welded steel tubes to more complex branded aluminum forgings.
They all seem to work equally well in my experience, and I've never found myself ...
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Are there any autopilots that are capable of landing a damaged aircraft better than any human?
How close are we to commercial aircraft with autopilots that can, as safely as theoretically possible, land an aircraft with damaged, missing, or otherwise inoperative control surfaces; or altered ...
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Why do the spoilers on the 737 only deploy to the flight detent after a flaps up landing?
Following an all flaps up (no flap) landing, the SPEED BRAKE
lever will not move beyond the FLIGHT DETENT and the spoilers
will not fully deploy (for reference this is stated in the Fcom 9.20.14 rev ...
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How far apart are the rudder pedals on a Piper PA-28?
How far is the left rudder pedal from the right pedal on a Piper PA-28? I assume the left and right seats have equal pedal spacing, but if not, the left seat is what I would like to know.
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Are control inputs different during autorotation?
My understanding is that during power-off autorotation the main rotor is still coupled to the tail rotor, and the flight controls execute the same functions as during power-on flight. Two questions:
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Can engines with a fixed nozzle in the angle of attack have the same effect as the thrust vectoring?
If the figure above represents a missile at the angle of attack and we vector resolution the thrust output from the nozzle, we can see that the thrust is divided into sine and cosine parts. Does the ...
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Why is only one rudder deflected on this Su 35?
Why does the aircraft has only one rudder deflected in this picture?
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How are Airbus pilots trained for using the mechanical backup control systems?
The A320 and friends have mechanical-only control capability (manual pitch trim + rudder pedals) for cases of total fly-by-wire computer or electrical failure. Obviously, this would be covered in ...
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Forward Slip - Which speed to maintain?
Which is the proper speed to be maintained during a Forward Slip? Near Vfe or Vref? Which one will let you lower with the shorter ground distance and why?
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How to prevent altitude loss or keep flight path angle constant while doing aileron maneuver?
I am trying to perform an aileron roll maneuver for an un-manned aircraft in a simulation. The lateral control architecture is that I am controlling roll rate (stability) with aileron stick and side-...
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What are the vertical pieces of metal on the Slingsby Swallow wing for?
I was watching James May's Toy Stories, particularly the one where they try to fly a glider across the English Channel. In the middle of the episode they mention a glider that was used for training ...
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What control inputs to make if a wing falls off?
If a wing is severed due to structural damage or from a mid-air collision, what is the best control input to make?
I would think opposite aileron and rudder, i.e. if right wing falls off, input full ...
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ST-901 GPSS Converter diagrams
I'm looking for pin-out diagrams for the S-Tec ST-901 GPSS Converter. This unit will go between a Garmin GPS400W GPS Navigator and an S-Tec 50 autopilot.
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