OUTER-LOOP CONTROL FACTORS FOR CARRIER AIRCRAFT

THE CARRIER LANDING CONTINUES TO BE A DOMINANT DESIGN PROBLEM FOR NAVY AIRCRAFT. EVEN THOUGH THE OUTER-LOOP CONTROL TASKS OF GLIDESLOPE, AIRSPEED, AND LINEUP ARE CRUCIAL, THEY ARE ONLY PARTIALLY ADDRESSED IN CURRENT DESIGN REQUIREMENTS. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL ATTACK THE OUTER-LOOP FACTORS DIRECTLY AND RATIONALLY USING PROVEN ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES AND AVAILABLE DATA IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR IMPROVING DESIGN REQUIREMENTS. THE SPECIFIC TECHNICAL APPROACH PLANNED IS TO CONFIGURE A MATH MODEL OF THE PILOT-VEHICLE COMBINATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE CARRIER LANDING TASK AND EXPLORE THE MODEL USING RECENTLY ACQUIRED PILOTED-SIMULATION DATA FOR CARRIER LANDING UNDER CAREFULLY CONTROLLED CONDITIONS. THIS WILL RESULT IN A USEFUL CAUSE-EFFECT AUDIT TRAIL LINKING PHYSICAL DESIGN FEATURES TO FLYING QUALITIES AND STABILITY AND CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS. THE ANALYSIS RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED AGAINST EXISTING REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHERE GAPS EXIST.