Jet aircraft handling characteristics simulation system for single-engine propeller aircraft and single-engine propeller aircraft

Abstract

To provide a jet airplane operation property simulation system in a single-engine propeller airplane that can suppress tendencies of turning that are generated during power operation in a single-engine propeller airplane and gradually can increase a speed during the power operation in accordance with rising of a speed in a jet airplane, and a single-engine propeller airplane.SOLUTION: A jet airplane operation property simulation system 1 in a single-engine propeller airplane comprises a control device 32 that when a power lever 20 is operated to add thrust of a single-engine propeller airplane 10, expands left and right speed brakes 6r and 6l together to gradually increase a speed VP, and controls the speed brakes 6r and 6l so that the brakes generate force in a yaw direction and in a roll direction against a tendency of turning of the single-engine propeller airplane 10 by making expansion amounts Dr and Dl of the left and right speed brakes 6r and 6l different from each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a jet aircraft control characteristic simulation system for a single-engine propeller aircraft, and to a single-engine propeller aircraft. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, when training jet pilots, once the trainee's piloting level has improved, the trainee can board a jet aircraft such as that described in Patent Document 1 and train while increasing the flight mode from trainer mode to fighter mode. But most trainees start out in relatively slow single-engine propeller aircraft and then move on to twin-engine and jet aircraft. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2000-318692 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] By the way, a unique control characteristic of single-engine propeller aircraft is a tendency to turn left (or right). This refers to the tendency of the aircraft to turn left when the pilot (trainee) operates the power lever (also called the throttle lever) to increase thrust, and is said to be due to a combination of factors including the propeller wake, P factor, gyro effect, and torque reaction.

[0005] And to counter the single-engine propeller plane's tendency to turn left, the pilot (trainee) will need to apply right rudder. However, the technique of applying right rudder in response to this power input is not necessary for piloting a jet aircraft, and will be of no use to trainees when they plan to pilot jet aircraft in the future.

[0006] In addition, single-engine propeller aircraft have the advantage of better thrust response to power lever operation than jet aircraft. That is, as shown in Figure 5, when the pilot operates the power lever L to increase the thrust, the speed Vp of the single-engine propeller aircraft increases relatively quickly, whereas the speed Vj of the jet aircraft increases slowly. As a result, the speed of the single-engine propeller aircraft increases more quickly than that of the jet aircraft.

[0007] Therefore, if trainees become accustomed to the thrust characteristics of such single-engine propeller aircraft (i.e., the quick speed increase), they may feel uncomfortable when they transition to a jet aircraft, which could result in a delay in their progress in jet piloting skills. Furthermore, the above problems, namely the negative effects of trainees becoming accustomed to the left turning tendency and rapid speed increase of single-engine propeller aircraft, tend to be more pronounced in military training aircraft, which are equipped with high-output engines relative to the size of the aircraft.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and has an object to provide a jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system for a single-engine propeller aircraft, which is capable of suppressing the left turning tendency (or right turning tendency) that occurs when powering a single-engine propeller aircraft, and of gradually increasing the speed during power operation in accordance with the speed increase in a jet aircraft. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention is a system for simulating the control characteristics of a jet aircraft in a single-engine propeller aircraft, A power lever for varying the thrust of a single-engine propeller aircraft; The left and right of the single-engine propeller aircraft The leading and trailing edges of each wing portion Between The speed brakes installed in the an aileron provided at the trailing edge portion; a control device that, when the power lever is operated to increase the thrust of the single-propeller aircraft, deploys both of the left and right speed brakes to slow down the increase in speed, and controls the speed brakes to deploy the left and right speed brakes by different amounts to generate forces in the yaw and roll directions to counter the turning tendency of the single-propeller aircraft; Equipped with 、 The control device closes each of the left and right speed brakes after first deploying them. .

[0010] Furthermore, it is preferable that the control device controls the speed brakes so that, when the single-propeller aircraft has a tendency to turn left, the amount of deployment of the right speed brakes is greater than the amount of deployment of the left speed brakes, and, when the single-propeller aircraft has a tendency to turn right, the amount of deployment of the left speed brakes is greater than the amount of deployment of the right speed brakes. 。

[0011] It is also preferable that a power supply unit of the single-propeller aircraft is configured to function as the control device. In addition, the single-propeller aircraft is preferably equipped with the above-mentioned jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system for single-propeller aircraft. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the tendency to turn left (or right) that occurs when powering a single-engine propeller aircraft, and to delay the speed increase during power operation to match the slow speed increase in a jet aircraft. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a single-engine propeller aircraft equipped with a jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of a single-propeller aircraft. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the operation of the power lever, the deployment of the speed brakes, and the change in speed of the single-propeller aircraft in this embodiment. [Figure 4] This is a diagram explaining the yaw and roll forces acting on the aircraft, as well as the air resistance and downward forces generated by the left and right speed brakes. [Diagram 5] This is a diagram showing the relationship between the operation of the power lever and the change in speed of a single-engine propeller aircraft and a jet aircraft. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system for a single-engine propeller aircraft and a single-engine propeller aircraft according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system for a single-engine propeller aircraft will be referred to simply as the jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system, and the single-engine propeller aircraft will be referred to simply as the propeller aircraft.

[0015] In the following, front / rear and up / down will be described in accordance with front / rear and up / down in a propeller aircraft, and left / right will be described in accordance with left / right in relation to the direction of travel of the propeller aircraft. Furthermore, the following description will be given of a case where a propeller aircraft has a tendency to turn left, but if it has a tendency to turn right, the same description will be given below with the left and right reversed.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a single propeller aircraft according to this embodiment. The propeller aircraft 10 is equipped with a propeller 2 for providing thrust to the aircraft through rotation, an aileron 3, an elevator 4, and a rudder 5, as well as speed brakes 6 that can rotate upwards on the upper surfaces of the left and right main wings 11.

[0017] It is also possible to configure the propeller aircraft 10 to have moving surfaces other than the ailerons 3, elevators 4, and rudder 5. Also, Fig. 1 shows a state in which the speed brakes 6 are deployed facing upward. Also, the speed brakes 6 can be provided on the undersides of the left and right main wings 11, or on both the upper and lower surfaces of the left and right main wings 11. In addition to the method of deploying the speed brakes 6 by rotating their bases like flaps, as in this embodiment, there are other methods, such as deploying a vertically arranged plate-like member by protruding it from the upper or lower surface, or from both the upper and lower surfaces, of the main wing 11. Note that in the method of this embodiment, the speed brakes 6 can be deployed by rotating only on one axis. Therefore, the mechanism can be constructed simply.

[0018] Furthermore, the speed brakes 6 can also be provided, for example, on the fuselage 12 of the propeller aircraft 10, but in that case they are provided on both the left and right parts of the fuselage 12, etc. When the speed brakes 6 are provided on each of the left and right main wings 11 as in this embodiment, it becomes easier for the left and right speed brakes 6 to generate yaw and roll forces on the propeller aircraft 10, as will be described later, compared to when the speed brakes 6 are provided on the left and right sides of the fuselage 12.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of a propeller aircraft. Although there are usually two or more of each of the ailerons 3, elevators 4, rudder pedals 31, etc. provided on the aircraft, for the sake of convenience, FIG. 2 shows only one of each.

[0020] The propeller aircraft 10 includes, as a thrust system, a power lever 20, an electronic control device 21, an engine 22 for driving the propeller 2 to rotate, and the like. The power lever 20 is provided in the cockpit 13 (see FIG. 1). A sensor 20a is attached to the power lever 20 for measuring the amount of operation of the power lever 20 by the pilot.

[0021] The electronic control device 21 is composed of an engine PCU (Power Control Unit), a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control), and the like. In this embodiment, a turboprop engine is used as the engine 22, but it may be a reciprocating engine or the like.

[0022] When the pilot operates the power lever 20, the amount of operation is transmitted from the sensor 20a to the electronic control unit 21. The electronic control unit 21 then performs necessary calculations based on the transmitted amount of operation and transmits the calculated throttle command to the engine 22. In addition, the electronic control device 21 transmits a pitch command to the propeller 2 to instruct the pitch.

[0023] The engine 22 adjusts the opening of the throttle valve in response to a throttle command transmitted from the electronic control device 21, thereby adjusting the amount of fuel supplied and changing the output of the engine 22, thereby adjusting the rotation speed and the like of the propeller 2. The propeller 2 also adjusts its pitch in response to a pitch command transmitted from the electronic control device 21. In this way, in the propeller aircraft 10, the pilot can change the output of the engine 22 and the pitch of the propeller 2 by operating the power lever 20, thereby changing the thrust of the propeller aircraft 10.

[0024] The propeller aircraft 10 also includes a control system including a control stick 30, rudder pedals 31, a power supply unit 32, and actuators 33 to 35 for the ailerons 3, elevator 4, and rudder 5. The control stick 30 and the rudder pedals 31 are provided in the cockpit 13. Sensors 30a and 31a are attached to the control stick 30 and the rudder pedals 31, respectively, for measuring the amount of steering of the control stick 30 and the amount of depression of the rudder pedals 31 by the pilot.

[0025] To the power supply unit 32, in addition to the sensor 20a of the power lever 20 and the electronic control device 21 described above, an ADC (Air Data Computer) 40, an attitude and heading reference device 41, and the like are connected. When the control stick 30 is steered or the rudder pedals 31 are depressed, the amount of steering of the control stick 30 or the amount of depression of the rudder pedals 31 is transmitted from each of the sensors 30 a, 31 a to the power supply unit 32.

[0026] The power supply unit 32 also receives inputs of information such as the amount of operation of the power lever 20, the pitch and rotation speed of the propeller 2, from the sensor 20a of the power lever 20 of the thrust system described above and the electronic control device 21. The power supply unit 32 also receives inputs of information such as atmospheric pressure and airspeed from the ADC 40, and inputs of information such as the aircraft's forward acceleration, roll rate, and yaw rate from the attitude and heading reference device 41. The power supply unit 32 then performs necessary calculations based on this information and supplies the necessary power from a storage battery or the like (not shown) to each of the actuators 33, 34, 35 for the aileron 3, elevator 4, and rudder 5, thereby adjusting the amount of operation of each of the actuators 33-35.

[0027] In this way, in the propeller aircraft 10, the pilot can operate the control stick 30 and rudder pedals 31 to tilt the ailerons 3, elevators 4, and rudder 5 as appropriate, thereby changing the attitude of the aircraft and changing the direction of its travel (climbing, descending, turning). Regarding the operation of the rudder 5 by depressing the rudder pedals 31, some propeller aircraft 10 are provided with a control unit for the rudder in addition to the power supply unit 32.

[0028] On the other hand, in this embodiment, the propeller aircraft 10 is provided with a speed brake lever 42 inside the cockpit 13. A sensor 42a for measuring the amount of operation of the speed brake lever 42 by the pilot is attached to the speed brake lever 42. The sensor 42a is connected to the power supply unit 32.

[0029] When the pilot operates the speed brake lever 42, the amount of operation is transmitted from the sensor 42a to the power supply unit 32. The power supply unit 32 then performs necessary calculations and the like based on the information on the amount of operation, and supplies necessary power from a storage battery or the like to each of the actuators 36r, 36l of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l of the aircraft, thereby adjusting the amount of operation of each actuator 36r, 36l. Then, the speed brakes 6r, 6l are deployed upward by the operation of the actuators 36r, 36l.

[0030] In this manner, in this embodiment, the pilot operates the speed brake lever 42 to change the amount of deployment of the speed brakes 6r, 6l, thereby changing the air resistance acting on the aircraft. The deceleration rate and descent rate of the propeller aircraft 10 are adjusted by changing the air resistance acting on the body of the propeller aircraft 10.

[0031] In this embodiment, as described above, the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l of the aircraft are provided with actuators 36r, 36l, respectively, and the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l are configured to operate independently. When the pilot operates the speed brake lever 42 to activate the speed brakes 6r, 6l as described above, the deployment amounts of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l change simultaneously and by the same amount.

[0032] Next, a jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system 1 for a single propeller aircraft according to this embodiment will be described. The propeller aircraft 10 is equipped with a jet aircraft handling characteristics simulation system 1. As described below, the jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system 1 is equipped with a control device that controls the speed brakes 6r, 6l, and in this embodiment, the power supply unit 32 of the propeller aircraft 10 described above is configured to function as this control device. Hereinafter, this will be referred to as the control device 32 in the description.

[0033] In this embodiment, when the pilot operates the power lever 20 to increase the thrust of the propeller aircraft 10, the control device 32 deploys both the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l of the aircraft to slow the increase in speed Vp. In addition, the control device 32 is configured to control the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l so as to make the amounts of deployment of the speed brakes 6r, 6l different from each other, thereby generating forces in the yaw and roll directions to counter the turning tendency of the propeller aircraft 10.

[0034] The processing in the control device 32 of the jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system 1 according to this embodiment will be specifically described below. The operation of the jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system 1 according to this embodiment will also be described.

[0035] When the propeller aircraft 10 is taking off, the pilot operates the power lever 20 to increase the thrust of the propeller aircraft 10 (see FIG. 3). Then, as described above, that information is transmitted from the sensor 20a of the power lever 20 and the electronic control device 21 to the control device 32 (power supply unit 32).

[0036] When the power lever 20 is operated as described above, the control device 32 supplies the necessary power to the actuators 36r, 36l of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l, respectively, to deploy the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l upward, respectively. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when the power lever 20 is operated to increase the thrust of the propeller aircraft 10, the control device 32 increases the amount of deployment Dr of the speed brake 6r on the right side of the aircraft and the amount of deployment Dl of the speed brake 6l on the left side of the aircraft.

[0037] As a result, the air resistance acting on the body of the propeller aircraft 10 increases according to the amounts of deployment Dr, Dl of the speed brakes 6r, 6l. Therefore, the speed Vp of the propeller aircraft 10 becomes smaller (see the solid line at speed Vp in FIG. 3) compared to when the speed brakes 6r, 6l are not deployed (see the dashed line at speed Vp in FIG. 3).

[0038] Next, the control device 32 reduces the amounts of deployment Dr, Dl of the speed brakes 6r, 6l that were once deployed, and closes the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l. In this way, by reducing the deployment amounts Dr, Dl of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l, the air resistance on the body of the propeller aircraft 10 is reduced, and the speed Vp of the propeller aircraft 10 increases (see the solid line at speed Vp in Figure 3).

[0039] In this way, when the power lever 20 is operated to increase the thrust of the propeller aircraft 10, the control device 32 first deploys the speed brakes 6r, 6l and then closes them, thereby slowing the increase in the speed Vp of the propeller aircraft 10. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to slow down the increase in speed Vp of the propeller aircraft 10 (see the solid line at speed Vp) compared to when the speed brakes 6r, 6l are not deployed (see the dashed line at speed Vp).

[0040] In this embodiment, by controlling the speed brakes 6r, 6l in this manner, it is possible to delay the rise in the speed Vp of the propeller aircraft 10 during a power operation (when the power lever 20 is operated to increase the thrust of the propeller aircraft 10). Therefore, it is possible to make the rise in the speed Vp during a power operation of the propeller aircraft 10 rise gradually in accordance with the rise in the speed Vj of a jet aircraft (see FIG. 5). In this manner, in the present embodiment, the propeller aircraft 10 is adapted to simulate the slow rise characteristic of the jet aircraft speed Vj during power operation.

[0041] On the other hand, in this embodiment, when the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l are deployed during power operation as described above, the control device 32 makes the deployment amounts Dr, Dl of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l different from each other (see Figure 3). That is, the single-propeller aircraft 10 has a left turning tendency (or a right turning tendency) as a control characteristic during power operation. As described above, the following describes a case where there is a left turning tendency.

[0042] The tendency of the single-propeller aircraft 10 to turn left occurs when yaw and roll forces act on the aircraft due to the combined effects of the propeller wake, P factor, gyro effect, torque reaction, and the like described above. In this case, as shown in Figure 4, the yaw force acts in the direction that causes the aircraft to turn left, and the roll force acts in the direction that pushes down on the left side of the aircraft (see the white arrow in the figure).

[0043] Therefore, in this embodiment (i.e., in the case of a left turning tendency), the control device 32 controls the speed brakes 6r, 6l so that the upward deployment amount Dr of the right speed brake 6r is greater than the deployment amount Dl of the left speed brake 6l. With this configuration, the air resistance Rr generated by the right speed brake 6r is greater than the air resistance Rl generated by the left speed brake 6l. Therefore, a force in the yaw direction (i.e., a force tending to make the propeller aircraft 10 turn right) that counteracts the propeller aircraft's tendency to turn left can be generated.

[0044] Furthermore, with the above configuration, the force Fr that presses down on the aircraft (main wing 11) generated by the right speed brake 6r is greater than the force Fl that presses down on the aircraft generated by the left speed brake 6l. Therefore, a force in the roll direction (i.e., a force pushing down on the right side of the aircraft) that counteracts the propeller aircraft 10's tendency to turn left can be generated.

[0045] In this way, by making the deployment amounts Dr, Dl of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l different from each other during power operation, it is possible to generate yaw and roll forces that counter the left turning tendency of the propeller aircraft 10. In addition, when the propeller aircraft 10 has a tendency to turn right, the control device 32 is configured to control the speed brakes 6r, 6l so that the amount of deployment Dl of the left speed brake 6l is greater than the amount of deployment Dr of the right speed brake 6r.

[0046] In this embodiment, by controlling the speed brakes 6r, 6l in this manner, yaw and roll forces are generated that counter the turning tendency of the propeller aircraft 10, making it possible to suppress the turning tendency that occurs when the propeller aircraft 10 is powered. In this manner, in this embodiment, the propeller aircraft 10 is adapted to simulate the control characteristics of a jet aircraft, which does not have a tendency to turn during power operation.

[0047] As described above, according to the jet aircraft handling characteristics simulation system 1 for a single-propeller aircraft and the single-propeller aircraft 10 of this embodiment, the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l are controlled by the control device 32 during power operation. As described above, in the single-propeller aircraft 10, the slow rise characteristic of the jet aircraft speed Vj during power operation and the control characteristics of a jet aircraft that does not have a tendency to turn during power operation are simulated.

[0048] Therefore, since such a single-engine propeller aircraft 10 is less likely to have a tendency to turn when powering, the pilot (trainee) does not need to learn unnecessary techniques such as stepping on the right rudder. In addition, in such a single-engine propeller aircraft 10, the speed Vp increases slowly during power operation, like in a jet aircraft, making it possible to practice piloting a jet aircraft without feeling any discomfort when transitioning to a jet aircraft.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the power supply unit 32 of the propeller aircraft 10 is configured to function as a control device. When configured in this manner, the power supply unit 32 can perform the above-mentioned normal processing (i.e., supplying power to each actuator in response to the operation of the joystick 30, etc.) while maintaining consistency with the processing specific to the present invention described above. However, it is also possible to configure the control device as a device separate from the power supply unit 32 .

[0050] In addition, when the control device 32 (power supply unit 32) performs control of the left and right speed brakes 6r, 6l to suppress the tendency of the propeller aircraft 10 to turn as described above, it is also possible to configure the control device 32 (power supply unit 32) to operate the ailerons 3, elevators 4, rudder 5, etc. in conjunction with the control. Furthermore, if the propeller aircraft 10 is not equipped with the aforementioned FADEC or the like, it is possible to configure it so that signals such as the rotation speed of the propeller 2 sent from the engine 22, etc. to an instrument panel not shown are also transmitted to the control device 32.

[0051] It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the single-propeller aircraft 10 is described as being a training aircraft, but the single-propeller aircraft 10 does not necessarily have to be a training aircraft. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1. Jet aircraft handling characteristics simulation system for single-engine propeller aircraft 6r, 6l speed brake 10 Propeller aircraft (single-engine propeller aircraft) 11 Wing 20 Power Lever 32 Control device 32 Power supply unit Dr, Dl development amount Vp Speed ​​of a single propeller aircraft

Claims

1. A power lever for varying the thrust of a single-engine propeller aircraft; A speed brake provided between a leading edge portion and a trailing edge portion of each of the left and right main wings of the single-engine propeller aircraft; an aileron provided at the trailing edge portion; a control device that, when the power lever is operated to increase the thrust of the single-propeller aircraft, deploys both of the left and right speed brakes to slow down the increase in speed, and controls the speed brakes to deploy the left and right speed brakes by different amounts to generate forces in the yaw and roll directions to counter the turning tendency of the single-propeller aircraft; Equipped with A system for simulating the handling characteristics of a jet aircraft for a single-engine propeller aircraft, wherein the control device first deploys each of the left and right speed brakes and then closes them.

2. 2. The system for simulating jet aircraft handling characteristics in a single-propeller aircraft as described in claim 1, wherein the control device controls the speed brakes so that, when the single-propeller aircraft has a tendency to turn left, the amount of deployment of the right speed brakes is greater than the amount of deployment of the left speed brakes, and, when the single-propeller aircraft has a tendency to turn right, the amount of deployment of the left speed brakes is greater than the amount of deployment of the right speed brakes.

3. 3. A system for simulating the control characteristics of a jet aircraft in a single propeller aircraft according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a power supply unit of the single propeller aircraft is configured to function as the control device.

4. A single-engine propeller aircraft comprising the jet aircraft control characteristics simulation system for a single-engine propeller aircraft according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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