Flight with disabled controls: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:54, 19 July 2013

Revision as of 14:26, 27 July 2013

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Controlling [[airspeed]] has been shown to be very difficult with engine control only, often resulting in a fast landing. A faster than normal landing also results when the [[High-lift device|flaps]] can not be extended due to loss of hydraulics.

Another challenge for pilots who wereare forced to fly an aircraft without functioning control surfaces wasis to avoid the [[phugoid]] instability mode (a cycle in which the aircraft repeatedly climbs and then dives), which requiredrequires careful use of the throttle.

Because this type of aircraft control is difficult for humans to achieve, researchers have attempted to integrate this control ability into the computers of [[fly-by-wire]] aircraft. Early attempts to add the ability to real aircraft were not very successful, the software having been based on experiments conducted in flight simulators where jet engines are usually modelled as "perfect" devices with exactly the same thrust on each engine, a linear relationship between throttle setting and thrust, and instantaneous response to input. More modern computer systems have been updated to account for these factors, and aircraft have been successfully flown with this software installed.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/pastprojects/Active/index.html| publisher=NASA| work=Past Research Projects| title=Active Home Page| accessdate=2006-06-01}}</ref> However, it remains a rarity on commercial aircraft.