Flight Control System Design for Fixed Wing Aircraft

The aviation sector develops cutting-edge technology and has strategic consequences all around the world. Fighter aircraft is one of the key players in air defense systems. To ensure flight safety and improve the flight capabilities of the aircraft, flight control technologies are being developed. In this study, three degrees of freedom nonlinear mathematical model of the F16 aircraft is utilized, and a flight control system operating on the longitudinal axis is designed. Trim point searching and linearization is carried out during the controller design process. The primary goal of the study is to create an autopilot system for the aircraft to follow the desired altitude and maintain a straight course by using LQR (linear quadratic regulator) and PD (proportional-derivative) controllers. The second goal of the study is to develop an autopilot system that provides control of the airspeed of the aircraft via FOPID (fractional-order proportional-integral-derivative) controller. Finally, the nonlinear model of the aircraft and the designed autopilot system are used for the simulation studies.