Advantages and Dis. - The FBW system - Flight Controls VI

The Fly-by-wire(FBW) concept we discussed earlier, has several advantages over the cable systems. Amongst a few of them, fewer movable components, lesser wear and tear, as a result lesser maintenance; greater precision in control surface movement (via digital input/output), and providing a better interface with other aircraft (and engine) systems, including the Automatic flight control/director systems (what we ordinarily call AutoPilot). The FBW also lends itself to incorporating backup systems and providing what is in technical parlance called, Failsafe systems. Example: If there is a malfunction(say in the hydraulic system), there will be an automatic shift to a standby system and an indication of this in the cockpit. Alternatively there could be a complete systems shutdown and a transfer of control to the pilot. There’s backup!
The primary advantages, though, are greater efficiency and weight saving. These feature most commonly in airline and aircraft manufacturers decisions to shift to the fly-by-wire system.
Now, there are disadvantages too. The main amongst them being those associated with any other electrical systems such as short circuits, system overload and some other more predictable and therefore more controllable factors such as heat buildup, electromagnetic interference etc.
These were some advantages and disadvantages.

In the next write up, we’ll talk about how human error can outdo the best of systems- in our case the FBW system.