Active sidestick controllers to be used on MC-21

摘要

Active sidestick controllers will be used on a large commercial aircraft for the first time, with the Irkut MC-21 to use a system that has been in development for more than two decades by UTC Aerospace Sys-tems's (UTAS) French-based subsidiary Ratier-Figeac. The deal offers a potential breakthrough in commercial cockpit situational awareness, by using a fly-by-wire actuation system with new controllers. Active sidesticks significantly improve the level of safety, making evident control inputs of pilots to one another and allowing prompt recovery actions," says Roman Taskaev, chief test pilot for the MC-21 programme. UTAS' actuation and propeller business unit began experimenting with the sidestick controllers in the early 1990s, and Irkut selected the system for its MC-21 family in 2010, says Ratier-Figeac international business development manager Marc Gouault.