Airbus A320 Side Stick and Fly By Wire — An Update

This paper discusses the side stick and fly by wire elements of the Airbus Industrie A320.

After discussion of the cockpit and the effect on it of the side sticks, the arrangements of the side sticks themselves is discussed, travel, forces and electronic coupling.

The control laws form the body of the paper with some emphasis on the new things that become possible with fly by wire that Airbus Industrie has vested in A320. Pitch roll and yaw control are discussed in detail and so to are the protection systems that will contain the flight path within safe limits.

Some illustrations of the functioning of the protection system in flight on a test A300 equiped with the A320 control laws will be presented.