17 October, 2018: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation recently announced the certification of its G500 aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration, equipped with BAE Systems’ active sticks. The achievement marks a milestone in the history of flight controls, as the world’s first certified civil active inceptor. Every G500 jet will be manufactured with BAE Systems’ active sticks installed.
Active sticks otherwise known as active control sidesticks or active inceptors are the controls a pilot uses to fly the aircraft. Unlike passive controls, active sticks provide intuitive tactile feedback that helps pilots control the aircraft and maintain a stable flight.
“The certification of our active sticks on the G500 marks the completion of an eight-year development programme,” said Ehtisham Siddiqui, vice president and general manager of Controls & Avionics Solutions at BAE Systems. “We originally developed a variant of this technology for the F-35, and Gulfstream will now be the first in business aviation to offer our active control sidesticks to its customers.”
The G500 is a twin-engine business jet designed for high-speed travel, offering an unmatched combination of speed, technology, reliability, safety and performance. Gulfstream is setting a new safety standard as the first in business aviation to offer active control sidesticks on its aircraft.
BAE Systems has been providing its active stick technology for fixed- and rotary-wing military aircraft for more than two decades. When certified for F-35, it became the first certified military active stick globally.