Hans
You raise an intriguing subject.. . . .No one would question the increasing role that electronics will play in all vehicles. The points that you, Nick and others have mentioned are very interesting, and no one would doubt they are representative of the helicopter's future.
You specifically mentioned my interest in helicopters that are easier to fly, plus the non-electronic direction I am going. The following addresses this specific area only. I hope that it is an objective perspective and not perverted by the depth of my involvement. Any arguments or corrections will be appreciated.. ._____________________
Fly-by-wire is a means of converting the pilot's desire into an action by the helicopter. The helicopter must still have the ability to dynamically enact this action in the most effective means possible. I think that Gareth Padfield mentions in his book "Helicopter Flight Dynamics" something to the effect that fly-by-wire will assist with flight control but it will never be an alternative for dynamic improvements.
The <a href="http://www.unicopter.com/unicopter.html" target="_blank">UniCopter</a> project is an attempt to improve the dynamics, flight-control simplicity and safety of the helicopter by unifying a number of existing features; such as; the intermeshing configuration, Really Rigid Rotors, the Advancing Blade Concept, rotor governor, etc.
Hopefully, the results should be;<ol type="1">[*]Instant response to pilot cyclic inputs, because of RRR[*]Less vibration on the pilot and craft, because of RRR[*]Higher forward speeds, because of ABC[*]The ability to incorporate ABC, because there are two main rotors.[*]Automatic entry into autorotation, because of the rotor governor.[*]Symmetrical handling characteristics. .[/list=a]
Fly-by-wire would only directly address item 6/.
Another consideration is that it may be many years before FBW becomes a contributor to the popularization of rotorcraft. It's limiting aspect, will not be the Central Processing Unit or the software but the high cost of the sensors, the actuators and their ancillary equipment.
[ 25 January 2002: Message edited by: Dave Jackson ]. .To try and improve it.
[ 25 January 2002: Message edited by: Dave Jackson ]</p>