Airbus Control Laws

From PMDG Ops

Airbus Flight Control Laws

Notes to the Wise

Airbus aircraft are not unique in using a Fly by Wire system (FBW) as the interface between the Pilot and the flying controls, the Boeing 777 for example has this feature. What is unique though is the level of control and protection available to the Pilot of any Airbus Aircraft via the FBW system, it is with this latter point in mind that I would like to describe and develop the concept of Airbus Flight Control Laws.

Note to the non technical, without wanting to sound patronising this can become quite heavy going if you have little or no knowledege of Aircraft systems. I will endeavour to keep the content readable but by neccessity it may become a little technical in places. As an additional point the Aerospace world loves acronyms and abbreviations, Airbus is no different. To maintain a consistant style I will quote the full title of a system or component once in the text when first using it along with it's acronym or abbreviation in brackets afterwards, thereafter I will use the acronym or abbreviation alone. Eventually I hope to get my Airbus pdf abbreviation/acronym guide uploaded to the site.

David Miles (Airbus)

Introduction

The following systems form the Architecture of the Airbus FBW system or Auto Flight System (AFS)

-- The Flight Management and guidance system (FMGS) interfaced through the Multifunction Control Dispaly Unit (MCDU),

-- The Autopilot/Flight Director (AP/FD) interfaced through the Flight Control Unit (FCU),

-- The Auto throttle (A/THR) interfaced through the non back driven thrust levers,

-- The Flight Mode Annunciator (FMA), providing Guidance targets and Information, to monitor the AFS

A set of handy Display units (DU) is also provided to give system information and display parameters required by the crew to operate the Aircraft.

-- To operate and to navigate the aircraft Electronic Flight Instrumentation System (EFIS)

-- To communicate, A local area Network

-- To manage the aircraft systems an Electronic centralised Aircraft Monitor(ECAM)

-- An FMA interface to provide Guidance targets and information to monitor the AFS/FD