Design Implications From AFTI/F-16 Flight Test

Ishmael, Stephen D. and Regenie, Victoria A. and Mackall, Dale A. (1984) Design Implications From AFTI/F-16 Flight Test. Technical Report NASA TM-86026, Research Engineering, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

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Abstract

Advanced fighter technologies are evolving into highly complex systems. Flight controls are being integrated with advanced avionics to achieve a total system. The advanced fighter technology integration (AFTI) F-16 aircraft is an example of a highly complex digital flight control system integrated with advanced avionics and cockpit. The architecture of these new systems involves several general issues. The use of dissimilar backup modes if the primary system fails requires the designer to trade off system simplicity and capability. This tradeoff is evident in the AFTI/F-16 aircraft with its limited stability and fly-by-wire digital flight control systems. In case of a generic software failure, the backup or normal mode must provide equivalent envelope protection during the transition to degraded flight control. The complexity of systems like the AFTI/F-16 system defines a second design issue, which can be divided into two segments: the effect on testing, and the pilot's ability to act correctly in the limited time available for cockpit decisions. The large matrix of states possible with the AFTI/F-16 flight control system illustrates the difficulty of both testing the system and choosing real-time pilot actions. The third generic issue involves possible reductions in the user's reliability expectations where false single-channel information can be displayed at the pilot-vehicle interface while the redundant set remains functional.

EPrint Type:	NASA Technical Memorandum
Keywords:	Digital flight controls, Independent backup unit, Pilot cockpit interface, Software
Subjects:	Aircraft/Project: F-16 (01 - 09) Aeronautics: (08) Aircraft Stability And Control
ID Code:	639
Deposited On:	02 Febuary 2006
Additional Information:	13 pages. This paper was presented at the IEEE/AIAA 5th Digital Avionics Systems Conference, Seattle, WA, October 31 to November 3, 1983.