22nd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Harrogate, UK, 28 August - 1st September, 2000
Paper ICAS 2000-3.11.1
STABILITY AND CONTROL OF STOVL AIRCRAFT
C. Fielding, M. Lodge
BAE SYSTEMS, UK
Keywords: stovl, short take-off vertical landing aircraft, stability, control
Over the past three decades, the UK aerospace
industry has carried out significant research into
the development of short take-off and vertical
landing (STOVL) technology, to enhance the
performance and operation of the Harrier
aircraft, and for possible application to future
aircraft such as those being developed under the
Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme. Some of
this research has focused on aircraft handling and
flight control for the transition between wingborne
and jet-borne flight. Following on from
internal research at British Aircraft Corporation /
British Aerospace (now part of BAE SYSTEMS) in
the mid to late 1970s, further development work
has been carried out in the 1980s and 90s in
support of the UK’s Vectored thrust Advanced
Aircraft flight Control (VAAC) Harrier and
Integrated Flight and Propulsion Control System
(IFPCS) programmes. This paper contains a short
review of STOVL aircraft longitudinal flight
control law design, and how basic feedback
control schemes can be used to influence the
aircraft’s response and hence its handling
qualities.
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