The Boeing Company

David W Grubb

Kioumars Najmabadi

Edward E Coleman

Chuong B Tran

Douglas Wilson

John Koon-hung Ho

Mark R Morel

William F Shivitz

William F Carver

Robert James McIntosh

Richard D Johnson

Robert J Mcintosh

John K Ho

Systems and methods are provided for a roll attitude dependent roll rate limit that may limit an aircraft to a lower roll rate limit under normal flight conditions. The systems and methods may detect situations where a higher roll rate limit may be desirable and allow the aircraft to exceed the lower roll rate limit, to either a higher roll rate limit or a roll rate between the lower and higher roll rate limit.

Roll attitude-dependent roll rate limit

A method for controlling control surfaces. A position limit is identified for movement of a control surface based on a load limit set for the control surface and a number of vehicle current operation parameters to form an identified position limit. Responsive to receiving a command to move the control surface on a vehicle to a new position, the control surface is commanded to move to a position within the identified position limit.

Horizontal tail load alleviation system

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for symmetric and anti-symmetric control of aircraft flight control surfaces to reduce wing-body loads. Commands are sent to symmetrically deploy outboard control surfaces to shift wing air-loads inboard based on airplane state and speed brake deployment. Surface rate retraction on a wing with peak loads is limited to reduce maximum loads due to wheel checkback accompanied by utilization of opposite wing control surfaces to retain roll characteristics. Airloads are shifted inboard on a swept wing to move the center of pressure forward, thereby reducing the tail load required to perform a positive gravity maneuver. In a negative gravity maneuver, speed brakes are retracted, thereby reducing the positive tail load and reducing the aft body design loads. High gain feedback commands are filtered from wing structural modes above one hertz by a set of linear and non-linear filters.

Wing-body load alleviation for aircraft

Growing community of inventors

Monroe, WA, United States of America

David W Grubb