Most large commercial aircraft now come equipped with fly-by-wire control systems. Fly-by-wire control systems operate the control surfaces on the aircraft electronically through a computer rather than mechanically. Most general aviation airplanes, however, do not have fly-by-wire control systems and are still operated completely mechanically. Research is now being conducted to implement fly-by-wire controls into smaller general aviation aircraft and future urban-air-mobility vehicles.

At AAG, the fly-by-wire team is currently researching various aspects of the fly-by-wire control system such as how a vehicle should respond to control input and where control limits should be set. Using this information, they are working to develop an urban-air-mobility style aircraft simulation model and create a fly-by-wire direct flight path control system with built-in envelope protection for improved safety of flight and more intuitive flight control.