ℒ ₁ adaptive control under anomaly: Flying qualities and adverse pilot interaction

This paper presents preliminary results of research conducted to predict flying qualities and pilot-induced oscillation tendencies in the Generic Transport Model, which is part of the Airborne Subscale Transport Aircraft Research system augmented with the ℒ ₁ flight control system. The main objectives of this study are to address the lack of suitable flying qualities criteria for nonlinear aircraft dynamics and (nonlinear) adaptive flight control systems, and to determine the rate of success of accurately predicting flying qualities and pilot-induced oscillation tendencies of remotely-piloted vehicles. The results are based on the time-domain Neal-Smith criterion, and piloted-simulation evaluations are conducted to validate these results. Particular emphasis is placed on detection of flying qualities degradations and pilot-induced oscillation tendencies in the event of control surface failures and aerodynamic stability degradation.