3.2 Aircraft Systems and Flight

Flight control systems are essential for flight, yet highly complex. Cable and pulley systems, hydraulic systems and fly-by-wire systems all have their distinct advantages and disadvantages. 

Fly-by-wire systems are the most advanced and are likely the future of flight control systems. Fly-by-wire systems use pilot-to-stick control, which ‘speaks’ to a computer system, which then sends control inputs to the control surfaces. These systems are made up of computers, actuators, sensors instead of cables and pulleys as a traditional aircraft would have. Some of the main advantages include “Flight envelope protection system allowing pilots full control without exceeding the aircraft’s limits, weight and drag reduction, increased safety and efficiency, maintenance reduction, reduced workload for pilots” (Cable systems vs, 2020). 

Due to the many built in redundancies and increased safety margins fly-by-wire systems are less likely to experience significant failures. However, if a major system fault were to occur it could cause significant failures of multiple systems. Most aircraft with fly-by-wire technology have some sort of ‘failsafe’ mode should the fly-by-wire system fail all together, which provides peace of mind. The redundancy of a fly-by-wire system essentially makes it so that so many things would have to go wrong prior to a complete fault occurring. A complete electrical failure would create the most issues for a fly-by-wire system due to it's reliance on computers and other electrically powered sources. However, in most modern aircraft, in the case of an electrical failure, crews should have about 30 minutes of battery power to get the aircraft down before it even has to revert to some sort of failsafe mode.

Reference: 

Cable systems vs. Hydraulic Systems vs. fly by wire in aircraft. AeroGuard. (2020, November 11). Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.flyaeroguard.com/blog/cable-systems-vs-hydraulic-systems-vs-fly-by-wire-in-aircraft/