Prof. Pierluigi Capone

Work at ZHAW

Position

• Head Flight Mechanics and Flight Control Systems
• Professional development course - Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
• SoE Coordinator for drones and unmanned aerial vehicles

Focus

• Design, specification and development from limited control authority to full fly-by-wire flight control systems for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft
• Parameter Estimation for research, development and training purposes
• Development of Real-time simulatiors (simulation model, control loading, motion base and visual system)
• Flight Test for Flight Control System and Parameter Estimation, Planning, Instrumentation, Execution, data Analysis
• Development of new inceptor designs suitable for tiltrotor and compound helicopter designs.

Teaching

• Aircraft Systems - Control Systems
• Flight Mechanics and Simulation
• System Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety
• Safety Critical Systems (MSE)

Experience

• Head of Control Laws Design - Fly by Wire Integrated Team
  AgustaWestland
  2008 - 2013
• Chief Project Engineer for Fly by Wire
  Sistemi Dinamici, Italy, on behalf of AgustaWestland
  2006 - 2008
• Middle Management, Flight Control System Group – Rotorcraft Flight Control System Design, Integration and Flight Testing
  AgustaWestland, Italy
  2004 - 2006
• Engineer Specialist, Active Control Technology Group - Design, verification, clearance, pilot in the loop simulation and flight test of digital control laws.
  Bombardier Aerospace, Canada
  2001 - 2004
• Senior Engineer, Flight Controls and Handling Qualities Groups – BA609 Tilt-Rotor Flight Control System Development
  Bell Helicopter, USA (on Behalf of Agusta SpA)
  2000 - 2001
• Guidance, Navigation & Control Engineer, Flight Control System Group - Responsible for M346 Advanced Trainer Control Laws
  Aermacchi SpA
  1995 - 2000
• Engineer Aerodynamics Office - Perfromenace, Flight Test and Certification
  Pilatus Aircraft Ltd
  1995 - 1995

Education and Continuing education

Education

• CAS University Didactic
  PHZH
  2022 - 2023
• EASA Design Organisation Approval, Certification of aircraft and related products, parts and appliances, and of design and production organisations
  JAA Training Organization
  2021 - 2021
• Development Courses - Middle Management
  AgustaWestland
  2004 - 2012
• Leadership Development
  Bombardier Aerospace
  2004 - 2004
• Aircraft Reliability and FAR/JAR Design Requirements
  Bombardier Aerospace
  2003 - 2003
• MSc In Aerospace Engineering / Aeroservoelasticity
  Politecnico di Milano
  1988 - 1994

Continuing Education

Private Pilot Licence
Avilu flight School
1992

Network

Membership of networks

• ERF (European Rotorcraft Forum) International Committee
• Working Group: WG-112 / Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL)
• Alumni Politecnico di Milano
• Vertical Flight Society
• Swiss Association of Aeronautical Sciences

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0009-0006-5395-5670

Social media

Linkedin

Projects

• White-box Helicopter System Identification / Project leader / ongoing
• Feasibility study on novel tilt-wing control allocation strategy / Co-project leader / completed
• Flight mechanics of a tilt-wing aircraft under harsh conditions / Deputy project leader / completed
• Swiss Drone Base Camp Lodrino / Team member / completed
• Simulation tool to predict the aerodynamics of tilt-wing aircraft / Deputy project leader / completed
• Digital Transformation – Case Studies for Aviation Safety Standards – Modelling and Simulation / Project leader / completed
• High Operational Reliability for Unmanned Systems / Project leader / completed
• Concept and Feasibility Study of a Power Reserve Calculator for General Aviation / Team member / completed
• Novel Generic Collision Avoidance Algorithm / Project leader / completed

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