The lovely engineering masterpiece we all know as Concorde integrated many more firsts than this of course, with practically all of them well beyond the state of the art machines available at the time.
The NASA F-8 Modified was the first digital and Concorde came well before that as an analogue FBW aircraft but are we sure there weren't even earlier analogue fly-by-wire aircraft? Test flying models perhaps?
Like the modified B47 that flew with analogue FBW controls on 14 December 1967, a good two years before Concorde, there was lots of funny flight test stuff going on in the 50s and 60s.
My understanding is that a fly-by-wire system involves computer processing of control inputs in some form, and does not simply mean a control system where control signals are passed electrically (instead of mechanically or hydraulically) directly between cockpit controls and control surfaces as in the case of Concorde. Hence Concorde was not an FBW aircraft.
A fly-by-wire system can use a range of control surface combinations to achieve the commanded manouvre. The pilot can command a number of things- for example in the case of pitch control, can command pitch rate, a vertical acceleration or the traditional elevator deflection, dependent on the control law in use. At least this is how Bristol Uni are teaching it, I'd be happy to be proven otherwise. Any Airbus types out there?
s&r- you miss understand. FBW is any system that replaces the mechanical linkage from pilot to control surface with an electrical signal. Analogue or digital or both.
I was wondering how long it would take before the Concorde would be mentioned.
stick&rudder is quite correct. The universally accepted definition of FBW is that is involves processed signals. Just because something is electrically controlled does not make it FBW. A bit of nationalistic pride seems to strectch the definition a bit.
FW190 German WWII fighter was reputably the first fully operational FBW! The pilot sat on a bullet proof box that contained the battery and the electric contol servos. The stick went down and into the box. The electric master servos (in th box) sent electric current to the control surface slave servos. There were reports that the FW190 could loose half a wing and still Fly! Blow off one aileron and the other still worked. technically there was no computer to interface the system so it was quite raw. Probably one reason why we will never see a proper one flying again, too risky these days.
Since there was no cable back-up and the system was electrically controlled only, I think that this aircraft was by definition a FBW aircraft.
