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The technological advancement in aerody­namics, propulsion, and structures for manned air vehicles in recent years has placed an ever increasing demand on actuation systems in the form of function, power level, and environ­ment. A significant advance in actuation tech­nology is necessary to improve vehicle mass ratio for high-performance vehicles. This paper describes the results of a parametric study which indicates a high level of confidence in the potential of the Balanced-Power concept for significant weight savings in aircraft actuation systems. The advantages of the Balanced-Power actuation concept are illustrated by a comparison between this concept and a conven­tional hydraulically actuated system for an identical flight control actuation problem. The Balanced-Power concept consists of mechani­cally actuated flight control surfaces, a me­chanical servo, a flywheel and a motor. The motor maybe electrically, pneumatically, or hydraulically powered.

A review of several studies and their results, conducted in an effort to determine the most advantageous form of outer loop control mechanization for use in high-performance flight control systems, has indicated that the series servo concept has considerable merit in contrast to the similar parallel servo mechanization. Results of both analytical and hardware tests with pilot-in-the-loop evaluation in the area of system performance, failure transients, malfunction protection, and physical characteristics have shown that for all autopilot functions and particularly for such critical outer loop functions as automatic landing systems, the series servo system mechanization is superior or equivalent to the parallel servo in all respects.