home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Wild Blue Yonder 1: 50 Years of Gs & Jets
/
Wild Blue Yonder - Episode 1 - 50 Years of Gs and Jets (Digital Ranch) (Spectrum Holobyte)(1-107-40-101)(1994).iso
/
control
/
printext.dir
/
00133_Field_133.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-08-29
|
2KB
|
40 lines
The Stall Barrier
The X-31 is designed to break what has been called the "stall
barrier." The stall has been a nemesis of pilots since before
the Wright Brothers. In the past, designers tried to reduce the
possibility of stall by limiting elevator travel, as well as
including a host of warning devices. The X-31's mission,
however, is not to increase safety by eliminating the stall, but
rather to enhance combat effectiveness by enabling the aircraft
to fly and maneuver at exceptionally high angles of attack.
In 1981, Rockwell and Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB) began
design studies for an enhanced maneuverability fighter. They
used technical data from the Rockwell International HIMAT (Highly
Maneuverable Aircraft Technology) testbed and MBB TFK-90 programs
as a basis. The HIMAT was a remotely piloted research craft
dropped from a B-52 bomber. The advantage of using this model
was that the HIMAT could outmaneuver any manned fighter, because
it was not limited by the effect of g-forces on the pilot. The
X-31 is the culmination of these studies.
To break the stall barrier, the X-31 was developed with a thrust
vectoring system which enables the pilot to retain attitudinal
and directional control even when a stall renders conventional
flight-control systems useless. Using the thrust vectoring
system, the aircraft will literally power through post-stall
maneuvers by brute force.
The thrust vectoring system is made up of three paddles that move
into the exhaust stream to deflect it from one side to the other.
The vanes are controlled by the pilot's digital fly-by-wire
flight control system, and can deflect the thrust up and down in
both pitch and yaw operations.
To complement thrust vectoring, the X-31A's flight control system
has forward canards that can rotate through 90 degrees. The
plane also has wing-tip elevons and trailing-edge flaperons. All
of these subsystems are integrated into the aircraft's
computerized flight control system, as is the pilot.