Introduction to Avionic Systems, Second Edition explains the principles and theory of modern avionic systems and how they are implemented with current technology for both civil and military aircraft. The systems are analysed mathematically, where appropriate, so that the design and performance can be understood. The book covers displays and man-machine interaction, aerodynamics and aircraft control, fly-by-wire flight control, inertial sensors and attitude derivation, navigation systems, air data and air data systems, autopilots and flight management systems, avionic systems integration and unmanned air vehicles. About the Author. Dick Collinson has had "hands-on" experience of most of the systems covered in this book and, as Manager of the Flight Automation Research Laboratory of GEC-Marconi Avionics Ltd. (now part of BAE Systems Ltd.), led the avionics research activities for the company at Rochester, Kent for many years. He was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1989 for his contribution to avionic systems research and development.

The fascinating true story of the controversial development and deployment of the supersonic fighter jet that changed aerial warfare forever The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was born in 1978, a state-of-the-art supersonic fighter and attack aircraft with a top speed of Mach 1.8, more than one thousand miles per hour. It was versatile, fast, and reliable, and no war machine in the air could match it. The marines adopted it first, followed by the navy, impressed by its incomparable ability to engage in close aerial combat while at the same time efficiently delivering explosive payloads to designated enemy targets. It became the aircraft of choice for the US Navy’s famous Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron in 1986 and served ably in combat from its first mission—America’s launched air strike against Libya that same year—through 1991’s Operation Desert Storm and well beyond. Yet the Hornet has always been shrouded in controversy, and while still in its planning stages, it sparked an unprecedented political battle that nearly doomed the miraculous machine before it could take flight. Orr Kelly, the acclaimed military author who has notably chronicled the remarkable histories of the US Navy SEALs and other branches of America’s Special Forces, tells the fascinating true story of the F/A-18 Hornet—how it came to be, how it almost wasn’t, and how it forever altered the way our nation’s wars are fought.