Suppression of flutter

Claim 1

Apparatus for flutter suppression, gust alleviation and stability augmentation on a vehicle, having at least one liftproducing member, moving in a fluid comprising: a first control member movably attached to the leading edge of said lift-producing member, a secoNd control member movably attached to the trailing edge of said lift-producing member, sensor means attached to said lift-producing member for producing signals indicative of the motion of said liftproducing member caused by flutter, gusts and vehicle instability; computer means, receiving said produced signals from said sensor means, for producing first and second signals indicative of the movement of said first and second control members, respectively, necessary to damp out said motion caused by flutter, gust and vehicle instability; said computer means is a computer that receives the outputs from said sensor means and produces said first and second signals in accordance with the following two equations: Beta (C(1,1) + iG(1,1)) h/b + (C(1,2) + iG(1,2)) Alpha delta (C(2,1) + iG(2,1)) h/b + (C(2,2) + iG(2,2)) Alpha where Beta is said first signal, delta is said second signal, h and Alpha are indicative of the linear and angular components, respectively, of said motion caused by flutter, gusts and vehicle instability, b is a constant proportional to the chord of said lift-producing member, i represents a 90* phase lead, and C(1,1), C(1,2), C(2,1), C(2,2), G(1,1), G(1,2), G(2,1) and G(2,2) are predetermined transfer functions; means receiving said first signal for moving said first control member proportional to said first signal; and means receiving said second signal for moving said second control member proportional to said second signal whereby the motion caused by flutter, gusts and vehicle instability is damped out.