Flight control and airwake suppression algorithm for carrier landing based on model predictive control

Abstract

Carrier airwake will cause aircraft landing trajectory deviation from the reference glide path during the final precision approach and landing stage, hence exacerbating the operation load of pilots and increasing the risk of carrier landing. To address this issue, a flight control algorithm that employed state space model predictive control (MPC) to suppress the effect of airwake was presented for aircraft landing on the carrier in this article. The MPC controller was built on the basis of the small-disturbance motion equation of a carrier-based aircraft under the landing status. Meanwhile, in particular, the airwake model was introduced in MPC controller so that its influence could be mitigated promptly. The computer simulation experiments demonstrated that the proposed method could effectively reduce the trajectory deviation caused by airwake and improve the success rate of carrier landing.