The Total Energy Control Concept for a Motor Glider

In this article the Total Energy Control System (TECS) that was introduced by Lambregts to control the vertical flight path and the velocity of an aircraft by using the total energy and the energy distribution between the flight path and the acceleration, will be taken up, modified, extended and tested on a motor glider. The TECS concept has been extended by using the airbrakes as additional control elements to manipulate the total energy. For motor gliders and utility aircraft with a high glide ratio this increases the sink performance and the range of possible missions, like steep approaches. Further modifications are done to improve the height accuracy during normal operation and during flare manoeuvre and to improve the control response reaching its saturations. A height protection is introduced to make a safe flight near to the ground possible. The usage and generation of required sensor signals from existing sensor data is introduced. Examples of flight test results are given.