Wonders of FBW

Now that the FBW system related to Commercial aircrafts is clear, lets look at the more exiting part of this technology. That's the FBW Control system of military aircrafts !

Though the whole architecture remains the same,the way its tuned by software to operate for much more extreme conditions is what makes this architecture more interesting. The number of control computers and control surfaces will increase for sure as fighters and other military aircrafts are more agile and powerful than their commercial counterparts. Though the control
systems are customised with each and every aircraft, I'll be looking into a few popular aircrafts and their control systems.


For example, consider the Boeing B2 Stealth Bomber. Just at the first look, the plane seems to look too flat or thin for its size. Notice that the plane does not have a tail too !! It's a known that the tail of a plane is responisble for a large percentage of the Radar Cross Section (RCA) So,Boeing just decided to remove the tail itself ! But they are still managing to fly the plane by continuous control of two control surfaces on either sides of the wing which require frequent adjustments to be made, which can only be done through a computer.




So is the case with an F 117 Stealth Bomber. Its unique shape comes because Radar signals are completely reflected in some other direction instead of bouncing back to the transmitter.This is what makes it a stealth aircraft. The bad shape gives the plane bad aerodynamic efficiency and control ! This can obviously be managed by a computer alone.





Similarly, the V22 Osprey has a unique deisgn. It can operate both as a helicopter and a plane. It works as a helicopter during landings and take-offs. This dual functionality is a part of the design because this feature makes it a utility flying machine and does not need a runway and that makes it very mobile. It operates like an aircraft when its cruising as the efficiency of a plane is more than a helicopter. However, the transistion from the rotors being upright while landing and take offs, to tilting by 90 degrees while in cruise is very crucial and requires a lot of precision and is done by computers rather than pilots. This is one of the reasons why the Harrier Jump jets used to crash a lot during take offs while the F 35 on the other hand can operate smoothly without any considerable risk when compared to the harrier jet.



Artificial Stability is another advantage of the FBW. Instability is deliberately fed into the system and is then controlled by computers for better performance. Consider the Eurofighter Typhoon. While it is taxiing on ground or parked, the nose of the plane always pitches up. This means that the center of gravity for the plane is far from the center and this gives us an advantage! The plane has a tendency to pitch up very easily. The climb rate for such an aircraft is higher than a normal plane. However the plane operates as usual without pitching up all the time as it is controlled by a computer rather than direct control of the pilot. We induce instability into the system and then create stability artificially using computers,hence the name.

With this, posts related to FBW ends.That puts us into thinking about one thing.

Who do you think is really flying the plane ?? Computers or Pilots??