A fly-by-wire system replaces mechanical controls with electrical wires that link the pilot's stick via a computer to electrohydraulic actuators. The advantages are greater simplicity, lower weight, and lower costs.
This photograph shows experimental test pilots in an Arrow flight simulator, testing the new style of control. In the cockpit is Jan Zurakowski, and beside him is Wladyslaw "Spud" Potocki?the first and last men to fly the Avro Arrow.