Maybe this has been mentioned, but I missed it.
People talk about fly-by-wire to refer to basically electronically
controlled control surfaces - servos instead of wires or hydraulics. This is
just electroactuation, there is more to FBW than that. FBW means that a
computer, with a model of the aircraft's aerodynamics, has authority over
control surface movements. The pilot ("operator??") moves the stick to
*indicate desired response* but it is not treated like an absolute command.
The computer will evaluate the stick movement to see if moving the surfaces
like that is safe. If it is safe, what you ask for is what you get. If you
are going to overstress something, the computer will "clip" the amount of
deflection that it delivers to keep inside the safe envelope.
I don't know that it really matters what we call it, and it's just fine to
use the "looser" meaning of FBW - but I wanted to hear a clarification of
what was intended: full-up full-authority computer flight, or
electroactuation of the control surfaces.
James Millar
