Control apparatus

Claim 2

A control apparatus for an aircraft of the vectored thrust type arranged to produce control signals in response to control movements, including: a fixed housing; a manually movable stick member supported with respect to said fixed housing and arranged to provide a first control signal corresponding to thrust magnitude demand, said thrust magnitude demand being determined by the location of said stick member with respect to said housing; said stick member including a grip to enable it to be gripped and moved manually with respect to said fixed housing so as to vary said thrust magnitude demand; and a rotatable collar mounted on said grip and arranged to provide a second control signal corresponding to thrust vector angle demand, said thrust vector angle demand being determined by an angular orientation of said collar.

Claim 3

A control apparatus according to claim 1, in which said grip includes an upright hand-datum flange for positively laterally locating a controlling hand with respect to said rotatable collar.

Claim 4

A control apparatus according to claim 2, in which said hand-datum flange is located at one extremity of said grip and said collar is located at the other extremity of said grip.

Claim 5

A control apparatus according to claim 1, in which the attitude of said manually movable stick member, with respect to a pilot, remains substantially constant throughout its range of movement.

Claim 6

A control apparatus according to claim 1, in which said collar includes a manually releasable friction lock.

Claim 7

A control apparatus according to claim 4, in which said collar includes a manually releasable friction lock.

Claim 8

A control apparatus according to claim 1, in which said control apparatus also includes a selectable stop mechanism selectively to limit the range of angular movement of said collar.

Claim 9

A control apparatus according to claim 1, in which said collar includes a number of preset angular detents at locations corresponding to predetermined angular orientations.

Claim 10

A control apparatus according to claim 1, which also includes ancillary control switches.

Claim 11

A control apparatus for a vectored thrust aircraft arranged to produce a thrust magnitude demand signal and a thrust vector angle demand signal in response to control movements, said apparatus including: a fixed housing; a manually movable stick member supported with respect to said fixed housing, the attitude of said manually movable stick member remaining substantially constant with respect to a pilot throughout its range of movement, said thrust magnitude demand signal being provided by the location of said stick member with respect to said fixed housing; said stick member including a grip to enable it to be gripped and moved manually relative to said fixed housing; a rotatable collar mounted on said grip, said thrust vector angle demand signal being provided by the angular orientation of said collar; and an upright hand-datum flange located on said grip for positively laterally locating a controlling hand with respect to said rotatable collar, said hand-datum flange being located at one extremity of said grip and said collar being located at the other extremity of said grip.

Claim 12

A control apparatus for a vectored thrust aircraft arranged to produce a thrust magnitude demand signal and a thrust vector angle demand signal in response to control movements, said apparatus including: a fixed housing; a manually movable stick member supported with respect to said fixed housing, the attitude of said manually movable stick member remaining substantially constant with respect to a pilot throughout its range of movement, said thrust magnitude demand signal being provided by the location of said stick member with respect to said fixed housing; said stick member including a grip to enable it to be gripped and moved manually relative to said fixed housing; a rotatable collar mounted on said grip, said thrust vector angle demand signal being provided by the angular orientation of said collar; and an upright hand-datum flange located on said grip for positively laterally locating a controlling hand with respect to said rotatable collar, said hand-datum flange being located at one extremity of said grip and said collar being located at the other extremity of said grip.

Claim 13

A control apparatus according to claim 10, in which said collar includes a manually releasable friction lock.

Claim 14

A control apparatus according to claim 10, in which said control apparatus also includes a selectable stop mechanism selectively to limit the range of angular movement of said collar.

Claim 15

A control apparatus according to claim 11, in which said control apparatus also includes a selectable stop mechanism selectively to limit the range of angular movement of said collar.

Claim 16

A control apparatus according to claim 10, in which said collar includes a number of preset angular detents at locations corresponding to predetermined angular orientations.

Claim 17

A control apparatus according to claim 12, in which said collar includes a number of preset angular detents at locations corresponding to predetermined angular orientations.

Claim 18

A control apparatus according to claim 10, which also includes ancillary control switches.