British Aerospace regional jetliner digital flight guidance certification

The British Aerospace Regional Jetliner (RJ), RJ70, RJ85, RJ100, and RJ115 aircraft will be certified with a Category 3 capable-digital flight guidance system (DFGS). The DFGS system integrates autoland, steep approach, elevator trim, yaw damper, altitude alerting, automatic throttle control, windshear detection, windshear guidance, return-to-service, and fault storage built-in test (BIT) into a single system. An optional dual DFGS configuration is also available. British Aerospace Regional Aircraft Ltd. and Honeywell engineering teams worked in a coordinated effort to develop control and monitoring algorithms to the specific needs to the RJ in meeting CAA and FAA certification requirements including autoland. The authors describe the special design requirements and developments undertaken on the RJ by both parties to satisfy an aggressive and demanding certification schedule while maintaining a solidly performing digital flight control system. Future developments in the operational environment for the RJ aircraft are also discussed