Dynamic characteristics analysis and flight control design for oblique wing aircraft

The movement characteristics and control response of oblique wing aircraft (OWA) are highly coupled between the longitudinal and lateral-directional axes and present obvious nonlinearity. Only with the implementation of flight control systems can flying qualities be satisfied. This article investigates the dynamic modeling of an OWA and analyzes its dynamic characteristics. Furthermore, a flight control law based on model-reference dynamic inversion is designed and verified. Calculations and simulations show that OWA can be trimmed by rolling a bank angle and deflecting the triaxial control surfaces in a coordinated way. The oblique wing greatly affects longitudinal motion. The short-period mode is highly coupled between longitudinal and lateral motion, and the bank angle also occurs in phugoid mode. However, the effects of an oblique wing on lateral mode shape are relatively small. For inherent control characteristics, symmetric deflection of the horizontal tail will generate not only longitudinal motion but also a large rolling rate. Rolling moment and pitching moment caused by aileron deflection will reinforce motion coupling, but rudder deflection has relatively little effect on longitudinal motion. Closed-loop simulations demonstrate that the flight control law can achieve decoupling control for OWA and guarantee a satisfactory dynamic performance.