Power-by-wire plane flies

Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Fort Worth, TX--An F-16 Advanced Fighter Technology Demonstrator aircraft recently took to the skies with flight controls driven by electric power rather than hydraulics. Lockheed Martin is demonstrating the electrically powered control surfaces for incorporation into production versions of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) being built by it and a team of partners in competition with a Boeing-lead effort.

Switching to electric power offers the possibility of reducing aircraft weight by 6% and life-cycle costs by 13%, as well as vulnerability to weapons fire, because the critical control system area is reduced by 15% within the aircraft, according to Harry Blot, deputy program manager for Lockheed Martin.

Company spokesman John Kent says the aircraft has already flown supersonically with control characteristics similar to a conventional F-16. The electrical power system interfaces with the control surfaces via electro-hydraulic actuators, which are miniature, self-contained hydraulic units developed by Parker Hannifin that convert the electrical power into force to move the surfaces.

For more information, visit www.jsfteam.com.