Automated helicopter flight control system

Abstract

An apparatus and method for controlling the flight of a helicopter, in which the pilot commands vehicle state changes, embodies several significant advances to the helicopter control art. Among these are control decoupling to reduce undesired helicopter responses in other axes to pilot inputs in one axis, task oriented control modes which are selected automatically, and automatic control of engine torque and rotor speed constraints. Novel task oriented control modes include independent control of heading and ground track at low speed and turn rate and flight path angle control at higher speeds. Control decoupling is achieved through a combination of force/moment decoupling and open loop prediction methods. Vertical control, traditionally accomplished with collective only, is accomplished in this system with a combination of longitudinal cyclic and collective control, increasing vertical response performance and minimizing engine power change demands. These flight control automation methods were designed to enable the use of small displacement, multi-axis controllers for full envelope helicopter control; the system provides dramatic pilot work load reduction for any of wide range of pilot manipulator configurations.