A Comparison of Hydraulic, Pneumatic, and Electro-Mechanical Actuators for General Aviation Flight Controls

The paper compares the size, weight and performance characteristics of hydraulic, pneumatic and electro-mechanical actuators for general aviation flight controls. Mathematical models for each type are presented. Actuator designs for specific control tasks in realistic light airplane applications are compared with each other. It is shown that electro-mechanical actuators utilizing the recently developed samarium-cobalt technology have significant advantages in terms of size and weight requirements while yielding very fast response.