Recently, the independently developed first-generation experimental aircraft code-named "Feiyan" completed its first full-profile flight test at an airport in Hebei Province. Equipped with an intelligent flight control algorithm, the aircraft was entirely piloted by the algorithm throughout the flight, successively completing all pre-set test maneuvers—including ground acceleration, gradient climb, and high-maneuverability turns—with all performance indicators meeting the design specifications. The successful maiden flight of "Feiyan" marks a breakthrough in transitioning intelligent flight control technology from digital simulation to real-world flight application, placing the country among the world leaders in aviation intelligent flight control.

"Feiyan" was jointly developed by the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA) and the COMAC Beijing Aircraft Technology Research Institute. It aims to revolutionize the R&D paradigm of aircraft control algorithms, achieving a comprehensive upgrade from manual iterative trial-and-error to autonomous intelligent learning. Traditionally, aircraft control design has relied heavily on engineers' experience, requiring repeated manual debugging and iterative matching of massive system parameters. The optimization cycle for a single control loop often takes several days, leading to a cumbersome development process, high labor and time costs, and significant bottlenecks in overall efficiency. During the development of "Feiyan," the joint R&D team re-engineered the technical pathway for flight control design by systematically restructuring the human expertise underlying traditional flight control R&D and building an intelligent algorithm iteration system. The team introduced deep reinforcement learning and pioneered an integrated autonomous learning architecture encompassing perception, identification, decision-making, and execution. Unlike traditional approaches that decouple, simplify, and divide-and-conquer, this architecture directly relies on onboard perception data to autonomously establish global mapping relationships for actuation modules such as control surface deflection and throttle regulation, greatly improving the design efficiency of flight control algorithms.

During the development of "Feiyan," the joint R&D team successfully bridged the gap from simulation to real-world implementation. To tackle the challenge of virtual-physical adaptation, the intelligent flight control algorithm was deployed in a virtual digital simulation environment to undergo extensive trial-and-error iterations, continuously optimizing flight control strategies through a reward-and-penalty mechanism. In the simulation environment, a complete flight control capability was rapidly evolved. A three-tier progressive test verification platform was established to solve the virtual-physical adaptation problem through a hierarchical verification system: basic logic deduction was completed using simplified models, low-altitude stability was first validated with foam model aircraft, and finally the "Feiyan" equipped with the latest intelligent flight control algorithm conducted flight tests in real airspace. Through this layered progressive verification process, the algorithm's environmental adaptability was fully honed, enabling it to handle complex real-world physical conditions.

The successful maiden flight of "Feiyan" fully confirms the value of intelligent flight control algorithms for aviation application and represents an innovative achievement in the deep integration of applied mathematics and aeronautical engineering R&D. BIMSA and COMAC Beijing Aircraft Technology Research Institute will jointly establish a laboratory to continuously deepen cooperation, jointly tackle key problems in interdisciplinary fields, and strive to inscribe scientific research achievements in the blue sky of our motherland. This will pave a cross-disciplinary innovation path from "applied mathematics" to "aeronautical engineering" for next-generation commercial aircraft and make new contributions to the development of China's large aircraft industry.