Embraer 170/190 – A Team Effort In Designing and Testing the Angle of Attack Limiting System

Eduardo Alves Menini, Embraer Flight Test Pilot, São José dos Campos, Brazil
Gilberto Meira Cardoso, Embraer Flight Test Engineer, São José dos Campos, Brazil

Abstract

EMBRAER is a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer and today is playing a significant role in the world airplane civil market. It is located in São José dos Campos, 100 Km from São Paulo. It has around 12.000 employees and has produced more than 3000 civil and military airplanes in the last 33 years.

Back in 1999 a decision was made to launch a new family of airplanes to fill up the gap of 70 to 110 seats aircraft. This new family was named Embraer 170/190 and consisted of four models with a seat capacity ranging from 70 to 118.

Focusing on performance optimization, flying qualities and commonality between the models, a fly-by-wire (FBW) flight controls system was designed to support the demanding market needs.

One of the key points of the FBW system is the (Angle of Attack) AOA Limiter. A team effort to design and tailor the AOA in order to achieve maximum performance while retaining outstanding controllability in low speeds is a key factor for the success of the development and certification process of the Embraer 170/190 family.