Book Description

Active Control Technology was the subject of this symposium, as it was of a previous FMP/GCP symposium held in 1974. At that time, Active Control could only be viewed in the future - and the view presented at that symposium was very optimistic. Ten years and numerous applications of Active Control Technology later, the view of Active Control which emanated from this symposium was still very optimistic. Certainly some of the projections for significantly reduced tail sizes have been revised in the light of the realities of getting hung-up at high angle of attack with little stability and no control. While the substantial performance benefits projected in 1974 have been modestly lowered based on our intervening experience, the potential of such advanced Active Control configurations as the X-29 is yet to be established. The ability to manage properly multiple redundant flight control systems, which was a major concern in 1974, is still a concern but tempered by several significant successes. Also the dissimilar backup flight control systems to counter undetected design faults has not been demonstrated. Active Control Technology provided the impetus for disregarding those allegedly outmoded Flying Qualities Specifications (a common 1974 view), so that full advantage could be taken of the high-gain, full-authority system with simulation-tailored control laws. In reality, one of the most significant benefits of Active Control Technology was to allow easy revision of the control laws when our flight experiences underlined the need for meeting those outmoded Flying Qualities Specifications.