SOLVING THE PILOT'S WIND-SHEAR PROBLEM.

Microbursts and other convective wind shears that exceed the absolute performance envelopes of all aircraft can and do occur regularly. Modern instrumentation offers various levels of protection against the wind-shear hazard for all classes of aircraft. These instruments can sense vertical acceleration or specific energy rate (rate of change of kinetic and potential energy, divided by aircraft weight). With proper displays, they can detect ambient wind shear and give rudimentary guidance. An angle-of-attack display can let the pilot maneuver up to the stall with greater confidence. Automatic or manual feeding of the pitch angle to the elevator and specific energy to the throttle can reduce a jet transport's flight-path undershoot by a factor of 2. A more complex control law that feeds flight-path angle, the product of dynamic pressure, and angle of attack to the elevator, and which drives the throttle with specific energy and energy rate, reduces the deviation by a factor of 5. This also reduces corresponding pitch angle and airspeed deviations and keeps angle of attack below the stall.