Application of nonlinear control strategies to aircraft at high angle of attack

Nonlinear control strategies as applied to a high-alpha vehicle are discussed. The intent is to evaluate these methods for their benefit and advantage over conventional gain-scheduled linear controllers. Several techniques and their associated mechanisms are identified. The test aircraft used is the X-29, which is particularly suited for manoeuvering at a high-alpha regime. A classical linear controller designed by Grumman and NASA is used for comparison