Mechanical and hydro-mechanical flight control systems are relatively heavy and require careful routing of flight control … See more

A pilot commands the flight control computer to make the aircraft perform a certain action, such as pitch the aircraft up, or roll to one side, by moving the control column or sidestick. The flight control computer t… See more

While traditional mechanical or hydraulic control systems usually fail gradually, the loss of all flight control computers immediately renders the aircraft uncontrollable. For this reason, most fly-by-wire syste… See more

Servo-electrically operated control surfaces were first tested in the 1930s on the Soviet Tupolev ANT-20. Long runs of mechanical and hydraulic connections were replaced with wires and electric servos.
In 1934, Ka… See more

All fly-by-wire flight control systems eliminate the complexity, fragility and weight of the mechanical circuit of the hydromechanical or electromechanical flight control systems – each being replaced wi… See more

A digital fly-by-wire flight control system can be extended from its analog counterpart. Digital signal processing can receive and interpret input from multiple sensors simultaneously (such as the altimeters and the … See more