Apparatus and method for reducing aircraft loads resulting from atmospheric turbulence and gusts

摘要

A controller for reducing unwanted sideways motion of an aircraft by reducing lateral side loads, resulting from air mass, turbulence and gusts. The controller functions in a manner that in the presence of higher frequency side loads, the rudder is caused to move in a relieving direction so that the net force across the vertical stabilizer is reduced. A pressure differential across opposite sides of the vertical stabilizer is measured and used to generate a first rudder deflection signal. To maintain stability of the aircraft, a beta-dot signal from the yaw damper module is gain adjusted and filtered to generate a second rudder deflection signal which is added to the first rudder deflection signal. The resulting combined signal reduces lateral side loads at higher frequencies without comprising aircraft directional stability.