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Aircraft control for flight in an uncertain environment: Takeoff in windshear

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Abstract

The design of the control of an aircraft encountering windshear after takeoff is treated as a problem of stabilizing the climb rate about a desired value of the climb rate. The resulting controller is a feedback one utilizing only climb rate information. Its robustness vis-a-vis windshear structure and intensity is illustrated via simulations employing four different windshear models.

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Abbreviations

ARL:

aircraft reference line

D :

drag force, lb

g :

gravitational force per unit mass=const, ft sec−2

h :

vertical coordinate of aircraft center of mass (altitude), ft

L :

lift force, lb

m :

aircraft mass=const, lb ft−1 sec2

O :

mass center of aircraft

S :

reference surface, ft2

t :

time, sec

T :

thrust force, lb

V :

aircraft speed relative to wind-based reference frame, ft sec−1

V e :

aircraft speed relative to ground, ft sec−1

W x :

horizontal component of wind velocity, ft sec−1

W h :

vertical component of wind velocity, ft sec−1

x :

horizontal coordinate of aircraft center of mass, ft

α:

relative angle of attack, rad

γ:

relative path inclination, rad

γ e :

path inclination, rad

δ:

thrust inclination, rad

ρ:

air density=const, lb ft2 sec2

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California

    G. Leitmann (Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California

    S. Pandey (Graduate Student)

Authors
  1. G. Leitmann
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  2. S. Pandey
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Dot denotes time derivative.

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Leitmann, G., Pandey, S. Aircraft control for flight in an uncertain environment: Takeoff in windshear. J Optim Theory Appl 70, 25–55 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00940503

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