RAH-66 Comanche Core AFCS Control Law Development: DEMVAL to EMD

This paper describes the development of the Core Automatic Flight Control System (CAFCS) on the RAH-66 Comanche during the first five years of prototype flight-testing. Much of the control law development occurred within a strongly analytical framework provided by the combination of the explicit model-following architecture of the CAFCS and the quantitative requirements of ADS-33D, Section 3. Nevertheless, direct pilot involvement was also found to be invaluable, and numerous updates to the system parameters and control-law architecture were implemented in direct response to issues associated with qualitative piloted evaluations. The important elements of the control law changes and their relationships to the ADS-33D requirements and to pilot comments are explored in detail.