X-Nico

2 unusual facts about flight controls


Flight controls

Flight control surfaces, the movable surfaces that control the flight of an airplane

Aircraft flight control system, flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, and the systems linking the two


Dennis E. Fitch

He was best known for his critical actions as an off-duty McDonnell Douglas DC-10 training captain who helped captain Alfred Haynes minimize loss of life on United Airlines Flight 232, when all flight controls were lost, on July 19, 1989.


see also

2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident

In May 2006, Captain Eric Genotte, together with Armand Jacob, an Airbus experimental test pilot, gave a presentation to the Toulouse branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society titled “Landing an A300 Successfully Without Flight Controls”.

Autopilot

In 1930, the Royal Aircraft Establishment in England developed an autopilot called a pilots' assister that used a pneumatically-spun gyroscope to move the flight controls.

Republic-Ford JB-2

Guidance and flight controls were manufactured by Jack and Heintz Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and Monsanto took on the task of designing a better launching system, with Northrop supplying the launch sleds.

Turbine engine failure

The first was in 1980 on LOT Flight 7, destroying the flight controls in a matter of seconds and killing all 87 on board.