Avionics
Gulfstream testing fly-by-light controls
Just days after taking the wraps off the fly-by-wire G650 last month, Gulfstream revealed that it has successfully flown a GV testbed fitted with a fiber-o

Just days after taking the wraps off the fly-by-wire G650 last month, Gulfstream revealed that it has successfully flown a GV testbed fitted with a fiber-optic “fly by light” (FBL) control system.

The FBL technology that is being demonstrated on the testbed is actually a generation beyond the fly-by-wire (FBW) system developed for the G650, Gulfstream said. Fly-by-light control systems use fiber-optic links instead of wires to transmit data from the flight control computers to the actuator control electronics. Besides being lighter, fiber-optic cables can transmit several channels of bidirectional information simultaneously.