Patent ID: 8620492

Claim:
A method for damping the dutch roll mode in an aircraft having a roll control surface, comprising the steps of: measuring at least one parameter of the motion of the aircraft; applying a washout filter to the at least one parameter of motion; calculating a damping signal that is proportional to the at least one parameter of the motion of the aircraft; and actuating the roll control surface in proportion to the damping signal; wherein the step of calculating a damping signal further comprises multiplying the at least one parameter of motion by a proportional gain; wherein the step of calculating a damping signal further comprises the steps of calculating a derivative function of the at least one parameter of motion; multiplying the derivative function by a proportional gain; and adding the result to the damping signal; wherein the step of calculating a damping signal further comprises the steps of calculating an integral function of the at least one parameter of motion; multiplying the integral function by a proportional gain; and adding the result to the damping signal; wherein the at least one parameter of motion is selected from the group consisting of lateral acceleration, sideslip angle, true airspeed, bank angle and yaw rate; and wherein the step of calculating a damping signal further comprises the steps of measuring the roll rate of the aircraft; multiplying the roll rate by a proportional gain; and adding the result to the damping signal.