A Novel Pneumatic Based Approach for Flight Controls

A new flight control system utilizing pneumatic actuation has been developed. The device is located under the skin of the upper wing surface, positioned between the maximum airfoil thickness and the trailing-edge, and extending over portions of the wing span. This device is activated to facilitate airplane maneuvers, such as turning, high-lift operations or spoiler deployment. The effector is connected to a high-pressure air source and incorporates discrete nozzles that produce two families of blowing jets, which can either streamline the flow to augment lift, or disturb the flow to reduce lift. The nozzles are selectively actuated to generate the required forces and moments for the desired maneuver. The parameters characterizing this flight control technique for selected airplane maneuvers are systematically analyzed through computational simulations. The effectiveness of this actuation method is demonstrated for two different aircraft configurations. Additionally, an ejector that is capable of generating a variety of actuation patterns is also presented.