Thales announces its unique Rudder Flight Control electronics systemwill fly on the Cessna Citation Longitude, unveiled yesterday at theNBAA Show in Las Vegas.

This innovative use of “Rudder-by-wire” is the culmination of efforts byThales teams in developing new and better flight controls for businessjets. It fulfills some of the key driving trends in the market, includingweight reduction, improving safety and the comfort of passengers.

Thales teams came up with a unique solution based around a pair ofThales Smart Electronic Control Units (SECUs). These use electricalsignals to augment pilot inputs from rudder pedals, and enhance thestability of the aircraft, making the flight trim smoother and allowingthe pilot to better control the plane.

The use of electrical impulses allows for the complete elimination of theheavy cables and pulleys of a conventional rudder control system, thusreducing weight. The innovative use of a paired set of SECUs, serves asa self-checking mechanism allowing for better control integrity. It alsomakes the system more streamlined, thus optimizing production, andproviding superior availability, reliability and integrity to the OEM.

Thales Canadian team, at the Montreal Centre of Competence in flightcontrol electronics, will develop system engineering and software basedon Control Laws supplied by Cessna Aircraft Company, a subsidiary ofTextron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company.

With addition of Cessna, Thales flight control systems now span everymajor business jet manufacturer in North America, includingGulfstream’s all-new G500 and G600 aircraft as well as their long-rangeG650 platform, and Bombardier’s Global 5000/6000 aircraft.