Flight control systems: from cables to fly-by-wire
Primary and secondary controls, cables and rigging, powered and fly-by-wire systems, high lift, certification and the independent inspection of disturbed controls (ATA 27)
What you will be able to do
- ✓ Describe the primary and secondary flight controls of a transport aeroplane and find them in chapter 27 of the maintenance manual.
- ✓ Inspect and rig mechanical control runs: cables, pulleys, pushrods, stops, travel and temperature-corrected cable tension.
- ✓ Explain how hydraulic servo-controls, trim, control surface balance, high-lift drives and spoilers work, and how they fail.
- ✓ Explain fly-by-wire architecture and control laws, and the certification requirements of CS-25 and 14 CFR Part 25, paragraphs 25.671 to 25.703 and 25.1309.
- ✓ Apply European critical maintenance task rules, US required inspection items and minimum equipment list relief to flight control work.
- ✓ Learn from the official findings on Emery Worldwide Flight 17 and from worked fault-isolation cases.
Course content
Session 1 · Flight controls: the big picture
1.1
- Three axes and the primary controls · free preview
- Secondary controls: trim, high lift and drag
- Neutral, stops and travel: the language of rigging
- Worked example: an aileron travel check
Session 2 · Cables, pulleys and pushrods
1.2
- Cables, terminals and rigid linkages
- Pulleys, fairleads and cable inspection
- Tension and temperature
- Worked example: a cable tension check with a temperature chart
Session 3 · Powered controls, trim and balance
1.3
- Hydraulic servo-controls
- Trim: the stabiliser and the tabs
- Control surface balance and flutter
- From the investigation file: Emery Worldwide Flight 17
Session 4 · High-lift devices and spoilers
1.4
- Flaps and slats: how the drive works
- Asymmetry protection and the take-off warning
- Spoilers, speedbrakes and ground spoilers
- Worked example: isolating a flap asymmetry fault
Session 5 · Fly-by-wire, control laws and certification
1.5
- Fly-by-wire: signals instead of cables
- Control laws and envelope protection
- Certification and system safety targets
- Worked example: dispatching with a spoiler inoperative
Session 6 · Disturbed controls: inspection and troubleshooting
1.6
- Critical maintenance tasks and independent inspection in Europe
- Required inspection items in the United States
- Troubleshooting without new errors
- Worked example: independent inspection after an elevator cable replacement
Who this course is for
Course content © Aerospace Garage Limited. All rights reserved.