Facilitated Airplane – project and preliminary in-flight experiments

The main goal of the presented project is to improve safety and Handling Qualities of general aviation aircraft so that airplane becomes pilot-friendly, “almost unmanned” aircraft. In this paper, a proposal of employing an intuitive, human-centered, simplified software-based flight control system in general aviation aircraft has been presented. Airplanes equipped with such a flight control system belong to a new class of general aviation aircraft with improved safety and efficiency handling properties – Facilitated Airplane (FA) or Simple Flying Airplane (SFA). The basic idea of the project is to employ an indirect (Fly-by-Wire) software-based flight control system characterized by high degree of automatization, leading to an almost “unmanned” general aviation aircraft. “Unmanned” does not mean eliminating humans from the control process but changing their role in the system. User-friendly control system should shape handling qualities of an aircraft in such a way that control becomes easy and safe. Pilot retains the crucial role of decision-maker, and control system takes appropriate steps to fulfill his requirements, or suggests optimal methods of implementing his decisions. Such a system may be considered to be pilot's electronic assistant as it integrates simplified handling flight controls and autopilot functions, and reduces the complexity of interactions between aircraft attitudes, power settings, and rate of motion, and in conclusion limits the possibility of loss of control.