Design of Aircraft Lateral Control Laws Simulation for Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This paper studies the design of a simulator to simulate the general behaviour of an aircraft in its lateral motion. The study will be in two parts: the aircraft lateral natural system and the design of the control laws. In the aircraft lateral natural system, all modes will be discussed including the Pure Roll mode, the Dutch Roll mode, and the Spiral mode. In the design of the control laws, two types of control laws were discussed which are the yaw damper and the poles placement method. The result is a complete simulator for aircraft lateral motion which allows the user to simulate and study the lateral characteristic of an aircraft given the desired input. The simulator resulted from this study is suitable to be used for teaching and learning as the changes in parameters yield instantaneous results that can be displayed.