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Pilot-induced oscillation

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188:. A pilot aiming for a 500-foot per minute descent, for example, may find themselves descending more rapidly than intended. They begin to apply up elevator until the vertical speed indicator shows 500 feet per minute. However, because the vertical speed indicator lags the actual vertical speed, the aircraft is actually descending at much less than 500 feet per minute. The pilot then begins applying down elevator until the vertical speed indicator reads 500 feet per minute, starting the cycle over. In this way, stabilizing vertical speed can be difficult due to constantly variable airspeed. In a controls sense, the oscillation is the result of reduced phase margin induced by the lag of the pilot's response. The problem has been mitigated in some cases by adding a latency term to the instruments – for example, to cause the climb rate indication to not only reflect the current climb rate, but also be sensitive to the rate of change of the climb rate. 122: 25: 144:
inadvertently commands an often increasing series of corrections in opposite directions, each an attempt to cover the aircraft's reaction to the previous input with an overcorrection in the opposite direction. An aircraft in such a condition can appear to be "porpoising" switching between upward and
252:) was on a high-speed taxi test when PIO caused the aircraft to veer off to the left of the runway. The test pilot decided to take off and landed safely after six minutes. After that unintentional maiden flight, the development team reduced the roll gain of the 145:
downward directions. As such it is a coupling of the frequency of the pilot's inputs and the aircraft's own frequency. In order to avoid any assumption that oscillation is necessarily the fault of the pilot, new terms have been suggested to replace
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when landing in Linköping, Sweden. Pilot-induced oscillation as a result of an over-sensitive, yet slow-response flight control system was determined to be the cause. Subsequently, the flight control system was redesigned.
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in comparison to the response rate of the aircraft itself. For example, an increase in power will not result in an immediate increase in indicated airspeed, nor will an increase in climb rate show up immediately on the
229:. A natural reaction to this is to push the nose down harder than one pulled it up, but then the pilot ends up staring at the ground. An even larger amount of up elevator starts the cycle over again. 237: 319:
Witte, Joel B., An Investigation Relating Longitudinal Pilot-Induced Oscillation Tendency Rating To Describing Function Predictions For Rate-Limited Actuators
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Pilot-induced oscillations may be the fault of the aircraft, the pilot, or both. It is a common problem for inexperienced pilots, and especially
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make such oscillations more probable for pilots than for automobile drivers. An attempt to cause the aircraft to climb, say, by applying up-
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factors that is analyzed, with the aircraft being graded by an established scale (chart at right).
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sustained or uncontrollable oscillations resulting from efforts of the pilot to control the aircraft
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INTERFACE STANDARD, Flying qualities of piloted airplanes, Washington, D.C.
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in California. This crash was linked to actuator rate limiting, causing the pilot,
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On 20 January 1974, a YF-16 (a development prototype for what was to become the
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Video of Space Shuttle Enterprise landing with PIO during a test flight (NASA)
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Pilot-induced oscillation rating scale, with start position at bottom left.
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Pilot-induced oscillation was blamed for the 1992 crash of the prototype
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can result in the plane getting dangerously slow and threatening to
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are close together in so called "short coupled" aircraft. During
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The most dangerous pilot-induced oscillations can occur during
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computer to eliminate similar PIO during takeoff or landing.
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While pilot-induced oscillations often start with fairly low
360:"That Time When the F-16 Accidentally Had Its First Flight" 196: 240:, several PIOs will incrementally increase in amplitude. 202:
program. The problem is most acute when the wing and
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 425: 387:, p. xvii, 2002, University Press of Kentucky, 236:, which can adequately be treated with small 321:https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA424366.pdf 283:, to overcompensate for pitch fluctuations. 210:, pilot-induced oscillation is one of the 159:pilot-assisted (or augmented) oscillations 132:(PIOs), as defined by MIL-HDBK-1797A, are 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 357: 120: 410:Video of an F-8 Landing with PIO (NASA) 385:Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story 339:. Dryden Space Flight Research Center. 179:Another factor is the response rate of 426: 419:Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association 331: 250:General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon 172:, will also result in a reduction in 47:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 325: 243: 13: 358:Mizokami, Kyle (23 January 2020). 221:. Too much up elevator during the 14: 450: 398: 415:Bounces, balloons, and porpoises 23: 34:needs additional citations for 351: 313: 304: 155:pilot–in-the-loop oscillations 1: 298: 16:Overcorrections by the pilot 7: 286: 58:"Pilot-induced oscillation" 10: 455: 238:perturbation linear theory 130:Pilot-induced oscillations 147:pilot-induced oscillation 186:vertical speed indicator 151:aircraft-pilot coupling 439:Flight control systems 383:Reed, Lister, Yaeger, 277:Edwards Air Force Base 136:. They occur when the 126: 124: 259:In February 1989, a 43:improve this article 212:handling qualities 181:flight instruments 127: 365:Popular Mechanics 119: 118: 111: 93: 446: 377: 376: 374: 372: 355: 349: 348: 345:2060/19960020960 333:McRuer, Duane T. 329: 323: 317: 311: 308: 244:Notable examples 149:. These include 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 454: 453: 449: 448: 447: 445: 444: 443: 424: 423: 401: 380: 370: 368: 356: 352: 330: 326: 318: 314: 309: 305: 301: 289: 246: 164:The physics of 115: 104: 98: 95: 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 452: 442: 441: 436: 434:Aviation risks 422: 421: 412: 407: 400: 399:External links 397: 396: 395: 379: 378: 350: 324: 312: 302: 300: 297: 296: 295: 288: 285: 281:Tom Morgenfeld 273:Lockheed YF-22 245: 242: 193:student pilots 117: 116: 31: 29: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 451: 440: 437: 435: 432: 431: 429: 420: 416: 413: 411: 408: 406: 403: 402: 394: 393:0-8131-9026-6 390: 386: 382: 381: 367: 366: 361: 354: 346: 342: 338: 334: 328: 322: 316: 307: 303: 294: 291: 290: 284: 282: 278: 275:, landing at 274: 269: 266: 262: 261:JAS 39 Gripen 257: 255: 251: 241: 239: 235: 230: 228: 224: 220: 215: 213: 209: 205: 201: 198: 194: 189: 187: 182: 177: 175: 171: 167: 162: 160: 156: 152: 148: 143: 139: 135: 131: 123: 113: 110: 102: 99:February 2009 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 384: 369:. Retrieved 363: 353: 336: 327: 315: 306: 270: 258: 247: 231: 216: 204:tail section 200:lifting body 190: 178: 163: 158: 154: 150: 146: 133: 129: 128: 105: 96: 86: 79: 72: 65: 53: 41:Please help 36:verification 33: 254:fly-by-wire 208:flight test 428:Categories 299:References 263:prototype 234:amplitudes 69:newspapers 287:See also 174:airspeed 170:elevator 142:aircraft 371:31 July 293:Phugoid 265:crashed 219:landing 83:scholar 391:  166:flight 140:of an 85:  78:  71:  64:  56:  227:stall 223:flare 138:pilot 90:JSTOR 76:books 389:ISBN 373:2021 337:NASA 197:NASA 157:and 62:news 417:by 341:hdl 45:by 430:: 362:. 176:. 161:. 153:, 375:. 347:. 343:: 112:) 106:( 101:) 97:( 87:· 80:· 73:· 66:· 39:.

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pilot
aircraft
flight
elevator
airspeed
flight instruments
vertical speed indicator
student pilots
NASA
lifting body
tail section
flight test
handling qualities
landing
flare
stall
amplitudes
perturbation linear theory

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