An Advanced Fly-By-Wire Flight Control System for the RASCAL Research Rotorcraft: Concept to Reality
Design features of a new fly-by-wire flight control system for the Rotorcraft-Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) are described. Using a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter as a baseline vehicle, the RASCAL will be a flying laboratory capable of supporting the research requirements of major NASA and Army guidance, control, and display research programs. The paper describes the research facility requirements of these pro-rams and the design implementation of the research flight control system (RFCS), with emphasis on safety-of-flight, adaptability to multiple requirements and performance considerations.