Fighter Aircraft Offline Simulation in Terminal Flight Phases under Utilization of Pilot Modelling

In order to assure safe operations of an aircraft, it is important to focus the clearance activities not only on manoeuvring during the mission segment but to cover the terminal flight phases, i.e. take-off and landing, as well. Especially the transition from air to ground can be a challenging task for the pilot e.g. if strong crosswinds act on the aircraft. This is why clearance activities usually incorporate manned landing simulations under most adverse conditions. Manned simulation obviously can only take place in real-time, has a notable overhead for preparation, and the availability of slots for such sessions is rather limited. Hence, having a good understanding of the question, which configurations or conditions are most critical, is decisive. The to be presented work contributes to that understanding by paving the way for a more extensive pre-assessment of configurations and conditions based on offline simulation ahead of manned simulation via the implementation of an automatic landing controller utilizing pilot modelling. Controller design and testing take place in MATLAB/Simulink with a modular hybrid 6-DoF aircraft simulation capable of representing in-service aircraft, generic benchmark aircraft, and future concepts. Recordings from actual manned simulation support the process of tuning the pilot model and provide first qualitative indications towards a future validation of the overall approach by comparison of landings in manned and offline simulation.