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Aviation History
1971
1971 - 0014.PDF
FLIGHT International, 7 January 1971 LETTERS.. will remember Maclarens' Temperance Hotel and many kindnesses from Colina and Tina Maclaren. The two sisiers had a somewhat embarrassing preference for aircrew people—their suppers would be served after those of other guests and one, some times two. fried eggs would be concealed under a plateful of excellent, if uniform, macaroni cheese. Wives were accepted under sufferance and it was not infrequently that a dram was taken in the hotel, its name notwithstanding." "Operation Dakota" is the name of a project to provide money for the RAF Benevolent fund and the RAF Museum at Hendon, writes Arthur Pearcy Jnr ("Cartrefle," 5 Ysfad-y-Wenallt. Uanbedr, Merioneth. N Wales). The first 100 copies of his book Douglas Dakotas of the RAF have been donated by the pub lishers, autographed by the author. Copy "001" is also autographed by Air Chief Marshal Sir John Grandy and Air Marshal Sir William Coles and is to be auctioned to the highest bidder—bids on a postcard to Arthur I'earcy by January 51, please. The remaining 99 copies will be sold at a minimum price of 1 guinea each. Further details are available from Mr Pearcy. DIARY Jan 11 RAeS Graduates' and Students' Section: "Aeronautical Aspects of the High-speed Train" by A. H. Wickens 7.30 p.m., Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Jan 11 RAeS Cranwell Branch: "Glider Design" by F Irving, 8 p.m., Whittle Hall, RAF College, Cranwell. Jan 12 RAeS Mam Society: specialist lecture, The Flying Qualities and Handling of the Concorde" by E, B Trubshaw; 6 p.m.. Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Jan 12 RAeS Glasgow Branch-: "Weather Forecasting tor Transatlantic Flights" by D. Evans: 7 15 p.m., Dept of Engineering Building, University of Glasgow. Jan 12 RAeS Bristol Branch: three lectures on aspects of the Concorde by BAC Ltd; 6 p.m., Filton House conference room, Filton, Jan 12 Slaet Lyneham Branch: "The Transition to Civil Avia tion" by G. E. Page; 8 p.m., RAF Lyneham, Wilts. Jan 13 RAeS Manchester Branch. "The MRCA Project-the Background and Progress to Date" by Sqn Ldr R W. Richardson; 7.30 p.m., Room RH 10, Renold Building UCIST. BAC Preston. Jan 14 RAeS Rotorcraft Section: annual general meeting at 12 noon; half-day symposium on rotary-wing aircraft in the Services; 2.15 p.m., Lecture Theatre. 4 Hamilton Place, London W1. Jan 14- SDSA: 2nd International Audiu Visual and Communica- 21 tion Show; Pare des Expositions, Porte de Versailles, Pans. By T. M. B. WRIGHT I T is PLEASANT to record signilicant advances in the avionics field as and When they occur and there must there fore be widespread satisfaction in British and French industry at the recent announcement, by Flliott Flight Automation, of the gratifying results so far obtained witii the automatic flight control system for Concorde; • When Concorde 001 first flew at Mach 2, the climb to 50,000ft, accelera tion to Mach 2 and 15 of the first 53 minutes of sustained Mach 2 flight were made entirely under autopilot control. The climb was flown using the new autopilot speed control pro gramme (Vi«,„ max speed hold) in which the autopilot is programmed to hold a combined speed and height profile until the cruising height is reached. Without the autopilot, the pilot would have to follow this com plex profile while Hying manually. More than 65 per cent of the current Hying time of Concordes 001 and 002 is being iiovvn under autopilot con trol. Automatic 1FS capture and coupled approaches have been per formed in turbulence tight down lo 100ft above touch-down. Successful use of the autopilot sys tem as an aid to test flying at this slage iti the development ol the air- crall clearly demonstrates the quality ot the original design and the effec tiveness of extensive rig testing and simulator development at Toulouse before flight. Three-axis autoslabiliser throughout the flight regime, auto- throttle in cruise as well as approach, electric trim and High! director have been installed and used from the first fliglit of both prototypes onwards. Some more detailed performance figures have now been released by Aerospatiale, who are responsible for the Concorde AFCS. The system is jointly designed and supported by Elliott m the UK and SIT'.NA in France. Bendix in the USA partici pated in prototype hardware develop ment, but the responsibility lor over all project management of I lie supply ot approximately 50 per cent ol tin" hardware lies with Elliotts, who hold the main sub-contrail from Sud- Aviation. All autopilot modes except auto matic touchdown and vertical naviga tion have now been flown ami their use is authorised in the prototype flight manual. Some 300 points in the liight control system are being con tinuously sampled by the iii-ilighl recording system and i oiisiderablc performance data has already been accumulated, prior lo Hie formal flight evaluation of the AFCS. During V,„i, hold, extending from 5!>5ki .it 10,00011 to Much 2 (52f>kt) at 50,000ft, speed-holding performance has been i 'Ikt, and i 8kl upon appli cation of reheat and ill the profile corners. During autopilot-* onlrolied descent at 320kt, typical accurate has been • 5kl. Autothrotlle accurals has been i 3kt at approach speeds and, in a .sub sonic hold condition at M.icli U'J2, the accuracy has been M.uh 0.00(1 Autopilot height-hold performance in straight Might is • 50ft at 50,000ft and Mach 2 in light turbulence. When applying bank angles of '25 degrees. the height loss has been 40ft at Mach 2 and Kill at Mach (1.25. Height acqui sition has been extensively used and initialed at rates up to 3.00011 'mill. ILS coupled approach performance has been very satisfactory, welt within the 25 mieroAmps performance re quired of a Cat 2 system at 100ft. Performance in this role can be regarded as particularly impressive in relation lo what is currently achievable with conventional aircraft types. All five Concorde AFCS subsystems are dual-monitored and a considerable volume of information has already been accumulated to prove the internal parameters in addition lo the flight performance, lor example, 250,0(H) measurements ot pitch-axis auto stabiliser monitoring, taken during ;>l Ilights at up lo Much 1.5, have assessed the monitor threshold and indicate that the probability of a nuisance warning in this channel is as low as one in 100,000,000 tier Hying hour. This indicates that the design con cepts used in Concorde are over- coining the problems encountered in early monitored systems. Signilicant factors in the success of the Concorde AFCS have been the use of advanced control laws and extensive pre-tlight work with both autopilot and "iron bird" simulator rigs, and the results obtained are regarded by Flliotis and SFFNA as a complete vindication of the application of these lechniques to the design of modern high performance aircraft Another very important factor has been the low hysteresis and high accuracy of the electrically signalled "Hy-by-wire" Hying control system developed bj Aerospatiale lor Concorde.
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