@ henra
See gums post, according to that it maintains 1 g with hands off, which would not be the case if it would maintain pitch.
G command--Pitch-axis control law by which the pilot gets the same "g" for a particular amount of stick force, regardless of speed (energy permitting)
Pitch-rate command--Pitch-axis control law in which the pilot gets the same pitch rate for a particular amount of stick force (or deflection in some designs), regardless of speed.
henra
My understanding is the following:
At higher speeds (lets say above 230kts. it will keep 1 g at stick neutral and when deflecting the g load will always be the same for a certain stick position, independent of the speeds (so at 280 kts the same deflection will yield the same g as at 230kts).
Below a certain threshold (which was still quite a bit above stall speed IIRC) the law blends over to a pitch rate law. I.e. at SS neutral pitch rate is 0, thus pitch constant.
If you would be right, BEA has it wrong:
BEA FR
This is not the case on the A330 in alternate law. The specific consequence is that in this control law the aeroplane, placed in a configuration where the thrust is not sufficient to maintain speed on the flight path, would end up by stalling without any inputs on the sidestick.
This aircraft would under your definition of the NZ law maintain pitch attitude, but go into an descent to compensate for the loss of speed. It would be partial speed stable. It would not stall from level flight and it would not try to maintain altitude.
From FCTM Cathay Pacific:
Flight Mode
In pitch, when an input is made on the sidestick, the flight control computers
interpret this input as a “g” demand/pitch rate. Consequently, elevator deflection is not directly related to sidestick input. The aircraft responds to a sidestick order with a pitch rate at low speed and a flight path rate or “g” at high speed. When no input is made on the sidestick, the computers maintain a 1g flight path.