Ever wonder what would happen to you if one of your wings broke off in flight? Perhaps you're prone to having wings blown off by enemy missles. No need to worry about that problem any more. Rockwell Collins is introducing a new automated system that makes use of an aircraft's inertial navigation system and GPS to automatically stabilize a damaged aircraft and bring it back safely for landing. The company recently tested its new damage tolerance system on a scale model of an F-18 with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and had amazing results. During the test flight, over half of one of the aircraft's wings is jettisoned. Amazingly, the on board computer regains control of the aircraft and lands it automatically. Rockwell Collins is promoting this new system for both UAVs and manned aircraft. The later especially due to the human nature to over react in emergency situations and perhaps the fatal flaw of providing too much control input. Damage tolerance, could potentially solve that problem.
To see an amazing video of the test, CLICK HERE.
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Thursday, June 12, 2008
New system gets pilots home on 1 wing and a prayer
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1 comment:
That looks like a 1/32 scale model. Did it carry 1/32 of the weight of an empty F-18?
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