NASA's Intelligent Flight Control System

Before continuing to describe what NASA accomplished with its witty IFCS, I will provide you a brief introduction to some important concepts and the benefits of the "fly-by-wire" systems. In a "fly-by-wire" system, the movements of the pilot's flight controls, also known as inceptors, are converted into electronic signals that are transmitted by wires -- thus the name "fly-by-wire ". Using these electrical signals, the Flight Control Computers (FCC) determine how the actuator of each of the control surfaces should move to meet the required aircraft handling qualities criteria. Over time, the traditional mechanical linkages between the pilot's controls and the aerodynamic control surfaces like those of the Flyer have been substitued by the electronic interfaces and computers of the modern "fly-by-wire" systems, although still nowadays traditional mechanical flight control systems can be found in conventional light aircraft. Thanks to the digital "fly-by-wire" systems, the pilot's workload in modern aircraft has decreased considerably, as many critical tasks have been delegated to the computer, like the automatic stabilization of the aircraft.