Large transport aircraft: Solving control challenges of the future

The evolution of large transport aircraft is driven by safety, cost, passenger comfort and environmental impact, all within a highly competitive and regulated environment. As a result, creating the aircraft of the future presents various interesting control challenges. For the past 7 years, Stellenbosch University has partnered with Airbus and the National Aerospace Centre to investigate and solve some of these challenges. This paper focusses on key projects within this partnership, serving Airbus centres of competence in France, Germany and the UK. Goals range from improving efficiency (e.g. automated formation flight) to improvements in safety (e.g. automatic return to flight envelope) and general automation (e.g. automatic in-flight refuelling). Where appropriate, it is illustrated how detailed analysis and the application of advanced techniques may often lead to relatively simple answers and quite general conclusions.