FLASH Flight Control Systems

The Fly-By-Light Advanced Systems Hardware (FLASH) program developed Fly-By-Light (FBL) and Power-By-Wire (PBW) technologies for military and commercial aircraft. FLASH consisted of three tasks. Task 1 developed the fiber optic cable, connectors, testers and installation and maintenance procedures. Task 3 developed advanced smart, rotary thin wing and electro-hydrostatic (EHA) actuators. Task 2, which is the subject of this paper, focused on integration of fiber optic sensors and data buses with cable plant components from Task 1 and actuators from Task 3 into centralized and distributed flight control systems. Open loop and piloted hardware-in-the-loop demonstrations validated readiness for application transition.