Multi-axis, multi-path fly-by-wire flight control system

1. A multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system that generates flight surface commands to control the movement of flight control surfaces to control at least one of pitch, roll and yaw directional axes of an aircraft, the system comprising:

a plurality of input controls each capable of generating a signal indicative of a commanded position of a corresponding control;

a plurality of control paths, each control path controlling at least one of the flight control surfaces; and

a plurality of flight control computers, which flight control computers each generate flight surface commands according to predetermined flight control algorithms in part as a function of the signals, wherein only one of said plurality of flight control computers is an active primary flight control computer at any given time with the remaining computers of said plurality running in standby.

2. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 1 , wherein each control path includes:

(i) at least one servo loop assigned to said flight control path, said servo loop controlling the movement of at least one predetermined flight control surface such that the at least one servo loop in said control path operates to control the aircraft in at least one of the roll, pitch and yaw directional axes; and

(ii) the plurality of flight control computers coupled to at least one flight control surface controller of each control path, the at least one flight control surface controller configured to receive at least one of the signals and is coupled to said at least one servo loop.

3. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 2 , wherein the flight control surface controller is an actuator control module that controls such a subset of flight control surfaces to adjust the attitude of the aircraft in at least one of the roll, pitch and yaw axes.

4. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 3 , wherein the control path includes a plurality of flight control surface controllers that each are actuator control modules, each module comprising at least two submodules.

5. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 4 , wherein one of said actuator control modules is capable of controlling a subset of flight control surfaces sufficient to comprehensively control the aircraft by adjusting the attitude of the aircraft in the at least one of the roll, pitch and yaw axes.

6. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 4 , wherein each said actuator control module is capable of controlling a subset of flight control surfaces sufficient to adjust the attitude of the aircraft in the at least one of the roll, pitch and yaw axes, and wherein the flight control surface controllers further include at least one servo motor control unit which controls such a subset of flight control surfaces to control the horizontal stabilizer trim such that comprehensive control of the aircraft is achieved by the actuator control module in combination with the servo motor control unit.

7. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 4 , wherein each said actuator control module is capable of controlling a subset of flight control surfaces sufficient to comprehensively control the aircraft in all axes and wherein the flight control surface controller further includes at least one servo motor control unit that controls horizontal stabilizer trim, such that comprehensive control of the aircraft is achieved by the actuator control module in the combination with the servo motor control unit.

8. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 4 , wherein the hardware of the one of the two actuator submodules is at least partially dissimilar to the hardware of the other one of the at least two submodules.

9. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 4 , wherein only one of said plurality of actuator control modules is capable of controlling a subset of flight control surfaces sufficient to comprehensively control the aircraft in all axes.

10. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 1 , wherein each control path controls a different subset of the set of flight control surfaces.

11. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 1 , wherein said plurality of flight control computers are serially redundant and wherein only said active primary flight control computer is active and controlling at any given time with the remaining computers of said plurality in a passive, non-operational standby configuration.

12. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 11 , wherein there is no output command voting or comparison between any of said plurality of flight control computers.

13. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 11 , wherein said active primary flight control computer is determined invalid via self test.

14. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 1 , wherein, in the event that said active primary flight control computer is determined invalid, another of said plurality of flight control computers becomes the active primary flight control computer.

15. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 1 , the plurality of flight control computers coupled to at least one flight control surface controller of each control path, wherein the flight control surface controller is an actuator control module that controls a subset of flight control surfaces to adjust the attitude of the aircraft in at least one of the roll, pitch and yaw axes, and wherein when every one of said plurality of flight control computers is not engaged, said actuator control modules are commanded according to predetermined flight control algorithms for direct mode operation in response to signals.

16. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control path includes a plurality of servo motor control units.

17. The multi-axis fly-by-wire flight control system according to claim 16 , wherein the hardware of each of the plurality of servo motor control units is at least partially dissimilar to the hardware of the others of the plurality of servo motor control units.

18. A method of individually controlling the position of a set of flight control surfaces on an aircraft that comprises a plurality of control paths, said method comprising:

(a) providing signals indicative of a command from at least one of a plurality of cockpit controls to each of a plurality of flight control computers via at least one flight control surface controller configured to receive at least one of the signals, which flight control computers are each capable of generating flight surface commands according to predetermined flight control algorithms as a function of the signals;

(b) designating only one flight control computer of said plurality of flight computers as a primary flight computer, wherein only said active primary flight control computer is active and controlling at any given time with the remaining computers of said plurality in a passive, non-operational standby; and

transmitting said flight surface commands from the primary flight control computer along at least one of said control paths to at least one flight control surface controller.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

coupling said at least one flight control surface controller to at least one servo loop assigned to said flight control path; and

controlling the movement of at least one flight control surface via said flight control surface controller coupled to said at least one servo loop such that said at least one servo loop in said control path operates to control the aircraft in at least one of the roll, pitch or yaw directional axes.

20. The method of claim 18 , with each control path controlling a different subset of said set of flight control surfaces.

21. The method of claim 18 , transmitting only the flight surface commands from the primary flight control computer to said flight control surface controller.

22. The method of claim 18 , said flight control surface controller receiving only the flight surface commands transmitted by said primary flight control computer.

23. A method of controlling the position of a plurality of flight control surfaces on an aircraft comprising:

(a) providing signals indicative of a commanded position;

(b) transmitting the signals to a plurality of flight control computers, which are each capable of generating flight surface commands as a function of the signals;

(c) selecting one flight control computer of said plurality of flight computers as a primary flight computer, with the others of said plurality remaining in a passive non-operational standby;

(d) transmitting said flight surface commands from the primary flight control computer to a flight control surface controller in each of said at least one control path; and

(e) applying the flight surface commands via said flight control surface controller to a plurality of servo loops to control a corresponding set of flight control surfaces on the aircraft.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein only the flight surface commands from the primary flight control computer are transmitted to the flight control surface controller and wherein the flight control surface controller receives only the flight surface commands transmitted by the primary flight control computer.