Aug 26 1976
From The Space Library
First flight of a new fly-by-wire control system for jet aircraft was scheduled for 27 Aug. at Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA announced. The system would use 3 digital computers for primary control (and a 3-channel analog system for emergencies) to translate pilot signals to aircraft-control surfaces by lightweight wires instead of the conventional control systems, reducing the aerodynamic load as much as 20% and saving up to 10% in production costs. In Phase I of the program, a modified G-8 jet was flown 42 times to establish the feasibility of digital fly-by-wire control, using a single-channel digital computer developed for the flight-control system of the Apollo lunar module. Phase II would use a triplex system that could be modified to use Shuttle software, leading to a digital system with applications both to Shuttle and to other advanced transport systems. Project pilot Gary Krier would fly the checkout tests, scheduled to last through 1978 with about 30 flights planned. (NASA Release 76-150; DFRC Release 74-76)
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