Dynamic Stability Characteristics of Aircraft and Dynamics of Pilot

Abstract

The dynamics of human pilots were studied quantitatively in relation to the change in the dynamic stability characteristics of an aircraft. Data was collected for three pilots who performed a control of bank-angle on a flight simulator simulating aircraft dynamics incorporating a large variety of Dutch roll characteristics. The dynamics of the pilots were expressed by a transfer function, which included dead time, gain, lead time constant, and lag time constant. To determine these parameters, the dynamic characteristics of a pilot were identified by the acquired data using an output error model. The pilot dead time was thought to be 0.3 sec, because the error between the actual data for aileron deflection angle in bank-control and the output of the transfer function for a pilot is smallest in these cases. We discovered that the preferred flying qualities of an aircraft for a pilot correspond to a gain, K_p, for the pilot greater than the set value depending on the flight conditions, a lead time constant, T_L, for the pilot of less than 0.8 s, and a lag time constant, T_l, for the pilot of less than 0.3 sec.