Stability and control of STOVL aircraft: The design of longitudinal flight control laws

Abstract

AbstractOver 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 wing-borne 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.