Gulfstream Demonstrates Fly-By-Light System

Gulfstream Aerospace demonstrated aircraft control using fiber-optic “Fly-By-Light“ (FBL) technology, the first time, the company said, that FBL has been tested on a primary flight-control surface of a Gulfstream business aircraft. During a nearly 75-minute flight, a fiber-optic harness transferred pilot-control input from a Flight Control Computer to spoilers on the wing. The harness, which carries flight-control signals on optical fiber, performs an electrical-optical conversion at each avionics system endpoint, combining multiple signals onto a common optical backbone that spans the aircraft, the company said.