A330 has a total of five computers - three PRIMs (Flight Control Primary Computer) and

two SECs (Flight Control Secondary Computer). On both aircraft, a single flight control
computer is capable of providing complete aircraft control in the most basic of Airbus
control laws, Direct Law. Mechanical Back Up is incorporated into the system design to
allow limited control of the aircraft while recovering from a temporary total electrical failure.

The flight controls on Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft are all electronically controlled and
hydraulically activated. Some surfaces, such as the rudder and the horizontal stabilizer,
can also be mechanically controlled. While in normal flight the computers act to prevent
excessive forces in the pitch and roll axes. The following discussion is based on the A330
but much of the information also applies to other Airbus types.

Information from numerous sources including pilot sidesticks and rudder pedals, the Air
Data Inertial Reference Units (ADIRUs), the Landing Gear Control Interface Units (LGCIU),
the Slat Flap Control Computers (SFCC), the Flight Management Guidance Computers
(FMGC) and the accelerometer is sent to the five flight control computers. There,
dependent upon the active control law, the aircraft speed, altitude, configuration, attitude,
phase of flight and numerous other parameters, the sidestick and rudder pedal or autopilot
commands are interpreted and the appropriate control deflection signals are sent to the
control actuators. Two Flight Control Data Concentrators (FCDC) also acquire data from
the Primary and Secondary Flight Control Computers and send it to the Electronic
Instrument System (EIS) to feed pilot displays and to the Central Maintenence Computer
(CMC).

There are three primary flight control laws - Normal Law, Alternate Law and Direct Law.
Alternate Law is further subdivided into Alternate Law 1 and Alternate Law 2. The
degradation to one or the other of the Alternate Law options is dependent upon the type of
failure. Each of the three laws has different sub modes inclusive of ground mode, flight
mode and flare mode. Mechanical Back Up is designed to allow the pilots to maintain
control of the aircraft while restoring flight control computers after a complete power
interuption.

Normal Law
Flight control Normal Law provides three axis control, flight envelope protection and
manoeuver load alleviaiton. Normal Law operates in differenct modes depending on the
stage of flight. These modes include:

• Ground Mode
• Flight Mode
• Flare Mode
Ground mode

Ground mode is active whilst the aircraft is on the ground. The autotrim feature is turned off
and there is a direct relationship between sidestick deflection and elevator response. The
horizontal stabilizer is automatically set to 4° up but manual settings (e.g. for center of
gravity) override this setting. Immediately after the wheels leave the ground, flight mode
progressively takes over from ground mode. The reverse occurs after touch down during
the landing phanse.
Flight Mode

The flight mode of Normal Law provides five types of protection: pitch attitude, load factor
limitations, high speed, high-AOA and bank angle. In addition, Low Speed Protection is
available in certain phases of flight. Normal Law flight mode is operational from take-off and
remains active until 100 feet above the ground during the landing phase. Failure of certain
systems or multiple failures will result in degradation of Normal Law to Alternate Law (ALT
1 or ALT2).

Unlike conventional controls, in Normal Law flight mode the sidestick provides a load factor
proportional to stick deflection which is independent of aircraft speed. When the sidestick is
neutral in manual flight, the system will maintain a 1g load factor and the aircraft will remain
in level flight with no requirement for the pilot to change the elevator trim, even during a
speed or configuration change. For manual turns up to 33° bank, no sidestick back
pressure is required as the system automatically trims the aircraft to maintain level flight.
The system freezes the auto-trim when the angle of attack becomes excessive, the load
factor exceeds 1.3g or when the bank angle exceeds 33°. If these situations occur as the
result of a deliberate manoeuvre, the pilot must apply back pressure on the sidestick to
maintain the selected attitude. In all cases, Load Factor Protection automatically limits the
control inputs so that the aircraft remains within AOM "g" limitations and Pitch Attitude
Protection limits the aircraft attitude to a maximum of 30° nose up or 15° nose down.

High Angle of Attack Protection, which protects against stalling and the effects of
windshear has priority over all other protection functions. The protection engages when the
angle of attack is between α-Prot and α-Max and limits the angle of attack commanded by
the pilot's sidestick to α-Max even with full sidestick deflection. If the autopilot is engaged, it
is automatically disengaged with activation of High Angle of Attack Protection. α-Floor
(automatic application of TOGA thrust) may be activated by the autothrust system if
engagement parameters are met.

High Speed Protection will engage to automatically recover from high speed upset. There
are two speed limitations for high altitude aircraft, VMO (Velocity Maximum Operational)
and MMO (Mach Maximum Operational). The two speeds are the same at approximately
31,000 feet, below which overspeed is determined by VMO and above 31,000 feet by
MMO. Activation of High Speed Protection results in reducing the positive spiral static
stability of the aircraft from its normal 33° to 0° which means that if the pilot releases the
sidestick, the aircraft will roll to a wings level attitutde. It also reduces the sidestick nose
down authority and applies a permanent nose up order to help reduce speed and recovery
to normal flight. Activation of High Speed Protection results in automatic autopilot
disengagement. Once the speed has decreased below VMO/MMO, Normal Law is restored
and the autopilot can be re-engaged.

Bank Angle Protection limits the maximum bank angle of the aircraft. Within the normal
flight envelope, if the sidestick is released when bank angle is above 33°, the bank angle is
automatically reduced to 33°. With full sidestick deflection, the maximum acheiveable bank
angle is 67°. If either Angle of Attack or High Speed Protection are active, full sidestick
deflection will result in a maximum bank angle of 45°. With High Speed Protection active,
release of the sidestick will cause the aircraft to return to a wings level (0° bank)attitude.
Low Energy Protection is also available while in Normal Law when the aircraft is between
100' and 2000' with flaps set at config 2 or greater. The low energy warning is computed by
the PRIMs using parameters of configuration, airspeed deceleration rate and flight path
angle. The aural warning "Speed Speed Speed" indicates to the pilot that aircraft energy
has become too low and that power must be added to recover a positive flight path angle.
α-Floor protection is available and will engage if pilot actions are inappropriate or
insufficient.

Flare mode

This mode is automatically engaged when the radar altimeter indicates 100 feet above
ground and provides for a direct sidestick to elevator relationship. At 50 feet the aircraft
trims the nose slightly down requiring the pilot to progressively move the sidestick rearward
emulating a conventional control input for landing.

Alternate Law
There are three basic reconfiguration modes for the Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft, Alternate
Law, Direct Law and Mechanical Back Up. Alternate Law is subdivided into two somewhat
different configurations dependent upon the specific failure(s). The ground mode and flare
modes for Alternate Law are identical to those modes for Normal Law.

Alternate Law 1 (ALT1) combines Normal Law lateral mode with Alternate Law pitch
modes. Low Energy Protection is replaced by Low Speed Stability meaning that the
aircraft no longer has automatic stall protection. At low speed, a nose down demand is
introduced based on IAS (instead of AOA) and Alternate Law changes to Direct Law. In
addition, an audio "STALL" warning is introduced. α-Floor protection is not available so
conventional pilot stall recovery action is required.

Load Factor and Bank Angle Protections are retained. High Speed and High Angle of
Attack Protections enter Alternate Law mode. Pitch Attitude Protection is lost.

ALT1 control law degradation will result from some faults in the horizontal stabilizer, a
single elevator fault, loss of a yaw-damper actuator, loss of slat or flap position sensors or a
single air data reference fault. Dependent upon the failure, autopilot may not be available.

In Alternate Law 2 (ALT2), Normal Law lateral mode is lost and is replaced by roll Direct
Law and yaw Alternate Law. Pitch mode is in Alternate Law. Load factor protection is
retained. In addition to those protections lost in ALT1 (Pitch Attitude and Low Energy
Protection), Bank Angle Protection is also lost. In some failure cases, High Angle of Attack
and High Speed Protections will also be lost.

As is the case with ALT1, some failure cases that result in ALT2 will also cause the
autopilot to disconnecnt. ALT2 is entered when both engines flame out, with faults in two
inertial or two air-data reference units, with faults to all spoilers, certain aileron faults or with
a pedal transducers fault.

Direct Law
In Direct Law (DIR), lateral modes are the same as ALT2; that is roll Direct Law and yaw
Alternate Law. Pitch control degrades to Direct Law and automatic trim is inoperative
requiring stab trim to be adjusted manually by the pilot. Control surface motion is directly
related to the sidestick motion. ALL protections are lost.

In Direct Law, autopilot function is always lost. DIR is entered if there is failure of all three
inertial reference units or all three primary flight computers, faults in both elevators or flame
out of both engines concurrent with loss of PRIM 1.

Mechanical Back Up
In the Mechanical Back Up mode, pitch is controlled by the mechanical horizontal stab trim
system and lateral direction is controlled by the rudder pedals operating the rudder
mechanically. This mode is intended to allow the pilots to maintain level flight while
resetting flight control computers after a temporary total loss of power.