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2020-01-07

BAE Systems Sets the Pace for Tomorrow

Step onto an aircraft and the chances are high that BAE Systems developed the electronics that enabled the flight. According to a company statement, from controlling the aircraft to keeping its engine running at peak performance, BAE Systems moves the world by serving more than two million passengers each day. In fact, every second of everyday a plane safely takes off and lands because of the company’s products.

BAE Systems introduced fly-by-wire technology to military aircraft over four decades ago. In fact, both the F-16 and the F-18 flew in 1976 with its systems. Just five years later, the firm introduced fly-by-wire on a commercial aircraft, the A310. These systems receive inputs from the pilot and command the actuators to move the surfaces accordingly.

BAE Systems’ active inceptors – ‘active sticks’ – provide intuitive tactile feedback that helps pilots control the aircraft and maintain a stable flight. While this innovation started with military aircraft more than 25 years ago, the company recently became the first to integrate the same technology on a commercial aircraft with Gulfstream’s G500. These sticks are one of the world’s first certified commercial active inceptors and earned BAE Systems, along with Gulfstream, the 2017 Aviation Week Technology Laureate Award.

To further assist pilots, they have created flight deck systems with streamlined cockpit interfaces that optimise the performance of aircraft. These systems are on more than 12,000 aircraft around the world and serve as the conduit between pilots and their aircraft. The idea behind these systems is to simplify actions for pilots based on the challenges that they face.

BAE Systems also keep passengers on the move with full authority digital engine controls (FADEC) that power more than 30,000 aircraft around the world. Its FADECs have logged over one billion flight hours on military and commercial aircraft. Engine controls receive command from the pilot’s thrust control levers, as well as a multitude of sensors to control the injection of fuel in the combustors. To maximise fuel, the FADECs control the stationary airfoils inside the engine’s fan. The airfoils, also known as stators or vanes, help the aircraft to be efficient by managing its bypass on the engine.

Furthermore, in the cabin aisle you’ll find that the company’s systems create a better flight experience for passengers and crews. To create that experience it gives crews the tools to manage power, lighting, climate, and communication systems on more than 2,000 aircraft.

For nearly a half century BAE Systems has solved some of the toughest challenges in aviation, while bringing forth innovative solutions that changed the flight experience for pilots, passengers and crews. The company is building on its past to set the pace for the future of aviation as it embraces autonomous and hybrid-electric systems on aircraft. In the years ahead, BAE Systems aims to remain steadfast in providing the controls and avionics that have helped keep customers flying.

Adam Taylor, BAE Systems product line director for active inceptors was quoted saying: “What we’re offering is a safer, more coordinated piloting solution for commercial air travel. We believe active control sticks will become the future standard of flying, due to this advanced safety.”

Intutive Feedback

Active sticks are new to the commercial aircraft world, but these systems are being used in military aircraft; in fact, BAE Systems has been providing them for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft for more than two decades. They replace traditional, passive pilot controls, which use position sensors to send electrical signals to the fly-by-wire system.

These traditional systems use mechanical inceptors, which cannot affect the feel of the stick in real time, so changes to the flight envelope of the aircraft cannot be fed back to the pilot as cues, leading to no situational awareness through the inceptor feel, such as excessive bank angle or stall.

Active inceptors provide force feedback directly into the pilot’s hand, in real time. This may take the form of various cues to warn pilots of impending flight envelope limits, which can mean the plane is being flown unsafely. It provides an intuitive means of giving immediate feedback to the pilot and links the controls across the cockpit, so pilots can feel the forces and see any displacements being caused.

This pilot linking is done electrically by the system, and replaces the complexity, weight, and volume of mechanically linked passive inceptor systems. The result is increased safety and crew coordination in dual pilot situations, which may eliminate industry concerns over dual pilot inputs in passive inceptor-equipped aircraft.

Civil active control side sticks are designed and manufactured at BAE Systems Rochester, UK site and hit the skies in 2016. The company’s legacy of active inceptor experience provides a highly developed and low risk solution for commercial airlines.

Pilots flying with active side sticks respond positively to the linking in the cockpit, and the precise and easy control afforded in the design. For many commercial pilots who once flew military missions, the advancement of this technology to commercial cockpits is much welcome.

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