Forum: F-16 Procedures

I was wandering, how does the stick of F-16 actually work ???
I mean, I heard from a friend of mine that all the parts of F-16 functions differently...For example, the elevators do not work together by just a single option...
So, what should I do :
1- If I have to pull up
2- If I have to dive
3- If I have to turn left
4- If I have to turn right
5- If I have to invert the plane

And also, what is the function of trim in the stick...
In other jets, we turn the stick left,right,up,down for the movement...What about the stick of F-16 ????

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yasirbhojani wrote:

I was wandering, how does the stick of F-16 actually work ???
I mean, I heard from a friend of mine that all the parts of F-16 functions differently...For example, the elevators do not work together by just a single option...
So, what should I do :
1- If I have to pull up
2- If I have to dive
3- If I have to turn left
4- If I have to turn right
5- If I have to invert the plane

And also, what is the function of trim in the stick...
In other jets, we turn the stick left,right,up,down for the movement...What about the stick of F-16 ????

Stick works the same as any other stick or yoke with regards to aircraft control, what is different is that the control stick uses pressure inputs to determine amount of throw in surfaces, it does not physically move the same as say an F-15 or A-10 control stick. Also F-16 do not have elevators, it has flaperons and stabilators, and also a rudder.

pete

What is meant by stabilizer's and flaperons ??? It do have elevators below the tail placed horizontally in a line....

Elevators are the moving part of the tail assembly that controls pitch. The whole thing does not move, like on a C-5 or Cessna 172. With stabilators, the whole assembly moves, like the F-16 or Piper Warrior.

EDIT: haha, after typing my reply, I checked Wiki and it has the same two planes I mentioned having stabilators. They word it better on there too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilator

Salute

OK, the flaperons look like basic ailerons on the trailing edge of the wing. They move down to a fixed angle when you lower the landing gear handle or use the "alt flaps" switch. From then on, one or the other will raise to help with roll.

The "stabilators" are like normal all-moving "elevators" . In the Viper, they are not connected and can move individually to help with roll.

The stick commands roll rate and gee. The computer then moves "stuff" to achieve your command. On another thread I have published the roll and pitch gradients from the original "A" model.

Basically, pitch is close to four pounds per gee, and roll is about three hundred degrees per second at sixteen pounds of side force.

The rudder moves directly using the rudder pedals, and also moves when you command roll and pitch at the same time - aileron/rudder interconnect.

Hope that helps...

Gums

But still, there is one thing that I don't understand...Mirage-2000 would definitly have a lower pitch than the F-16 as it have neither stabilators nor canards...But, why is it still comparable to F-16 ???
Secondly, does the aileron and stabilators work together just by the movement of stick ????
Thirdly, how is the brake applied in an F-16 ( what should be done if I want to slow my F-16 other than bringing the throttle back to idle ) ???
And fourth, does the stick come back to normal position if it is left in a position other than the normal position ?? for example, take a look at this picture....How is this done ???

First - I could guess, but that wouldn't do you much good. Might want to wait for someone like johnwill or Gums to chime in.
Second - Yes.
Third - Using the speedbrakes, which are controlled by a switch on the throttle grip. You can't see them in the picture you provided, but they're clamshells located between the stabs and nozzle.
Fourth - The stick is pressure-sensitive, so it doesn't move a whole lot (fractions of an inch), but it is self-centering. The positions of the flight controls in your picture are the positions they sag to when no hydraulic power is applied. Once hydraulic power is applied, they'll center back up.

Salute

Good stuff mostro-breath.

C'mon yasir, read all the stuff here before asking stale questions.

Original stick didn't move a bit. All inputs to the FLCS, go look it up, provided gee-command or roll rate via the pressure you exerted. The Block Five had a new stick that had about one-eighth inch movement. I didn't notice anything different. Some folks claimed it made formation flying easier, but not me.

The FLCS moves ALL control surfaces required to achieve the pilot command via the stick. That's ALL surfaces except the speedbrake. If you relax pressure on the stick, the plane tries to get to whatever gee or roll rate you had commanded using the trim switch - the hat switch on top of the stick.

You cannot compare the Viper to any other jet except the Raptor, Eurofighter and the new Lightning. Even the Hornet does not have a full fly-by-wire, computer-controlled flight control system. Oh yeah, forgot about the Shuttle.

I suggest you use Google or many threads here to answer your questions.

out,

Gums sends ....

Gums wrote:

You cannot compare the Viper to any other jet except the Raptor, Eurofighter and the new Lightning.

Since you didn't say "jet fighter", I'm going to add the Airbus 320, 330 & 340.

I know, barf. Very Happy

regards, OL

yasirbhojani,
To answer your question about the Mirage-2000 pitch rates, you should understand that the wing trailing control surfaces on the 2000 act as ailerons and what some people call stabilators (the F-16 engineering community calls them horizontal tails). They are not used as flaps. Delta wing trailing edge control surfaces are usually called "elevons", for "elevator + aileron".

Large pitch control surfaces (stab, tail, elevon, canard, ...) will give you more pitch acceleration, but are not necessary for high pitch rate. High pitch rate comes from high load factor (g) and low true airspeed.

The Mirage can generate high pitch rates because it can pull high g at relatively low airspeeeds, same as F-16.

Thanks for all the info friends...I'll take the suggestion of "GUMS" rather than disturbing you next time...

yasirbhojani wrote:

I was wandering, how does the stick of F-16 actually work ???

1. Push stick forward, things on the ground get bigger.
2. Push stick back, things on the ground get smaller.
3. Push stick left and things tilt to the right.
4. Push stick right and things go back the other way.

GUMS gets real technical sometimes.

Not that I'm complaining...

Out

maddog2840 wrote:

1. Push stick forward, things on the ground get bigger.
2. Push stick back, things on the ground get smaller.
3. Push stick left and things tilt to the right.
4. Push stick right and things go back the other way.

GUMS gets real technical sometimes.

The relativistic approach. More pure-science than any other post, I must say. Wink

Great....

Gums wrote:

Salute

---You cannot compare the Viper to any other jet except the Raptor, Eurofighter and the new Lightning. Even the Hornet does not have a full fly-by-wire, computer-controlled flight control system. Oh yeah, forgot about the Shuttle.---

Gums sends ....

I have to disagree. Hornet has a full computer controlled fly-by-wire flight control system that is more sophisticated (at least on some functions) than that found on F-16. Hornet (up to D model) has a mechanical backup control to stabilator actuators, but those wires are disconnect during normal operation of FCS.

The advance part of Hornet FCS is number of flight surfaces available: Yaw is controlled by two rudders. Pitch is controlled by two stabilators and two rudders. Roll is controlled by two leading edge flaps, two trailing edge flaps, two ailerons, two stabilators and two rudders. Lift is controlled by two leading edge flaps, two trailing edge flaps and two ailerons. This combined makes Hornet much more controllable at extreme situations like high alpha and combat damage.

I thinks Hornet's FCS software has got some updates since Gums last fought 'em Wink

Best regards,
Mechanic

Forum: F-16 Procedures

How does the stick work ???