Fly By Wire technology ?

What is Fly By Wire ?

All of us might have heard about Fly By Wire technology somewhere or the other. Well, Fly By Wire is term which is used when flight control system of the aircraft uses electronic signals from the computer as input. It takes the digital signals in pulses from autopilot and corresponds it to flight control surface like aileron or rudder. This is the latest technology which is being used by modern aircraft manufactures like Airbus. Fly By Wire has actually replace the mechanical linkage with digital computers. The Pilot sends the input which is read by digital computer which decides how the aircraft will move as per pilot’s signal.

How Fly By Wire is Useful for Aircraft Manufacturers ?

• More Payload with Weight Reduction : Since Fly By Wire technology has removed the mechanical linkages, due which lot of aircraft structure weight has reduced. This helps airlines to carry more passengers, hence more money. It has removed the pulleys,cranks,cables and gears from the aircraft.This will improve the performance of airlines.
• Improved Reliability : Due digital signals in pulses, it has helped the pilots in better effective control . As every signal is digital, it has increased the reliability of the machine by minimizing the human error.
• Increased Manoeuvrability: Due better controls, it is of huge benefit for military aircraft.

How Fly By Wire Works ?

This system has Flight Control Computer which is connected with various control surfaces of aircraft like rudder,ailerons,flaps etc. It continuously senses the position of control surface and keeps updating the Flight Control Computer. Whenever a Pilot gives signals or input, the Flight Control Computer measures the difference between the present position and desired position of the control surface. It keeps giving the appropriate signals to the control surfabce until the desired position is reached. Difference between the input signal and output is measured by FCC keep regulating the system with appropriate action.

The signals which are given by autopilot or pilot are known as forward path and other signals which are given by control surfaces are known as feedback loop.The autopilot is a Stability Augmentation System and control surfaces are known as Control Augmentation System.

For More Details How Airbus has used Fly By Wire Technology, CLICK