FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN FOR RIDE QUALITIES OF HIGHLY MANEUVERABLE FIGHTER AIRCRAFT.

A flight control system design is presented that utilizes a ride improvement mode system (RIMS) in conjunction with a control augmentation system to achieve desired ride smoothing for low altitude high speed flight conditions. The Northrop Large Amplitude Flight Simulator and the Continuous System Modeling Program were used as the tools to analyze and evaluate ride qualities of a highly maneuverable fighter aircraft in low-altitude, high-speed flight conditions. Analysis included the effect of the first body bending mode on ride quality and pilot evaluations of the RIMS as flown on the Large Amplitude Flight Simulator. It is demonstrated that significant improvement in ride quality on a low wing loaded multipurpose combat airplane could be achieved without adverse impact on the handling qualities.