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A turboprop control system 10 for use with a turboprop 2 having a turbine engine 12 operably coupled to and rotationally driving a propeller 14 having variable pitch blades 16 to control the engine speed, propeller speed, and propeller pitch. The pilot provides, by a single power control lever 30, t

A turboprop control system 10 for use with a turboprop 2 having a turbine engine 12 operably coupled to and rotationally driving a propeller 14 having variable pitch blades 16 to control the engine speed, propeller speed, and propeller pitch. The pilot provides, by a single power control lever 30, the control input used to control the engine and propeller.

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1. A method for controlling the operation of an aircraft turboprop engine having a turbine engine operably coupled to and rotating a propeller having propeller blades, the method comprising: receiving a position input from a single input device on a flight deck of the aircraft;converting the positio

1. A method for controlling the operation of an aircraft turboprop engine having a turbine engine operably coupled to and rotating a propeller having propeller blades, the method comprising: receiving a position input from a single input device on a flight deck of the aircraft;converting the position input into a turbine engine setting and a propeller setting;controlling rotational speed of the turbine engine according to the turbine setting based on the comparison of an actual engine speed signal and a desired engine speed signal; andcontrolling at least one of propeller speed and pitch according to the propeller setting based on the comparison of a desired forward speed signal and an actual forward speed signal;wherein controlling comprises receiving by a controller the desired forward speed signal and the actual speed signal of the rotor and the propeller, summing the desired forward speed signal and the actual speed signal, providing the summation to a first amplifier through a phase-lead controller, providing the output of the first amplifier to a dead-zone function to generate a variable output signal except when the input signal is between an upper and lower defined signal boundary, processing the variable output signal by a second amplifier and saturating the values of the variable output signal obtained from the second amplifier into a distinct positive value or a negative value or a neutral value indicating increase in speed or decrease in speed or no speed change respectively for the rotor and the propeller. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving a position input is indicative of the position of the single input device relative to an operational range of the single input device. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the single input device is a lever and the operational range is a physical range of movement of the lever. 4. The method of claim 2 wherein the operational range of the single input device includes a first portion corresponding to forward movement of the aircraft and a second portion corresponding to rearward movement of the aircraft. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the converting the position input into a turbine engine setting comprises mapping the position input to a turbine engine setting according to a predetermined engine map having corresponding position input values and engine settings. 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the predetermined engine map is configured to provide for a linear thrust response from the turbine engine for at least a range of movement for the single input device corresponding to forward thrust. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein converting the position input into a propeller setting comprises mapping the position input to a propeller setting according to a predetermined propeller map. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the predetermined propeller map has a linear relationship between the position input and a propeller pitch for rearward movement of the aircraft. 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the predetermined propeller map has a propeller speed setting and a pitch setting for different flight regimes. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the different flight regimes comprise at least taxi, cruise, and takeoff, and are determined based on position input. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the predetermined propeller map provides for maximum thrust during cruise. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the propeller setting provides for a constant propeller speed while setting the pitch in response to the position input. 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the converting the position input into a turbine engine setting and a propeller setting comprises applying an engine speed map and a propeller speed map to convert the position input to an engine speed for the engine speed setting and a propeller speed setting for the propeller setting. 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the engine speed map sets the engine speed to produce a linearly increasing amount of power, and the propeller speed map sets the propeller speed to optimize thrust provided for the amount of power. 15. The method of claim 13 wherein, for rearward movement of the aircraft, further comprising applying a reverse propeller pitch map to set a negative pitch for the propeller blades. 16. A turboprop control system for use with a turboprop comprising a turbine engine operably coupled to and rotationally driving a propeller having variable pitch blades to control the engine speed, propeller speed, and propeller pitch, the turboprop control system comprising: a control input device, located within a cockpit of an aircraft, and having an operational range and providing a control signal indicative of an input selection within the operational range; anda controller receiving the control signal and having an engine speed map and a propeller speed map as a function of the control signal, wherein the controller applies the engine speed map and the propeller speed map to the received control signal to set an engine speed and a propeller speed for the turboprop;wherein the controller comprises: a summation unit to sum a desired forward speed signal and an actual speed signal for the rotor and the propeller;a first amplifier coupled to the summation unit through a second order phase-lead controller to amplify the received signal from the summation unit;a dead-zone function coupled to the amplifier that provides variable output signal to a second amplifier except when the input signal is between an upper and lower defined signal boundary; anda saturator coupled to the second amplifier for saturating the signal into a distinct positive value or a negative value or a neutral value indicating increase in speed or decrease in speed or no speed change respectively for the rotor and the propeller. 17. The turboprop control system of claim 16 wherein the control input device is operable through a physical range of motion to define the operational range. 18. The turboprop control system of claim 17 wherein the control input device is a lever physically movable through a predetermined physical range of motion. 19. The turboprop control system of claim 17 wherein a first portion of the range of motion corresponds to a forward movement of the aircraft and a second portion of the range of motion corresponds to a rearward movement of the aircraft. 20. The turboprop control system of claim 19 wherein the controller further has a propeller pitch map, and the controller sets the propeller pitch to a negative pitch when the control input device is located within the second portion. 21. The turboprop control system of claim 16 wherein the engine speed map and propeller speed map are configured to provide a linear thrust response from the turboprop for at least a portion of the operational range corresponding to forward movement of the aircraft. 22. The turboprop control system of claim 21 wherein the propeller speed map is configured to optimize at least one of: propeller efficiency for the corresponding engine speed, fuel efficiency, or flight time. 23. The turboprop control system of claim 22 wherein the optimal propeller efficiency accounts for at least one of altitude, airspeed, engine speed, propeller speed, or propeller pitch. 24. The turboprop control system of claim 16 wherein the controller further comprises a closed loop control which receives the set engine speed to control the speed of the engine. 25. The turboprop control system of claim 24 wherein the controller further comprises a closed loop control which receives an actual engine speed from the engine. 26. The turboprop control system of claim 24 wherein the controller further comprises a closed loop propeller control which receives the set propeller speed to control the speed of the propeller. 27. The turboprop control system of claim 26 wherein the closed loop propeller control further comprises an executable program running on a general purpose computer. 28. The turboprop control system of claim 27 wherein the controller further comprises a closed loop propeller control which receives an actual propeller speed from the propeller. 29. The turboprop control system of claim 28 wherein the closed loop propeller control further comprises a propeller control circuit configured to provide one of three distinct output signals according a comparison of the set propeller speed and the actual propeller speed: a first output signal if the actual propeller speed is less than the set propeller speed, a second output signal if the actual propeller speed is greater than the set propeller speed, and a third output signal if the actual propeller speed is equal, or within a tolerance, of the set propeller speed. 30. The turboprop control system of claim 29 wherein the propeller pitch is further controlled by the output signal of the propeller control circuit controlling an actuator for actuating a governor spring of a propeller governor assembly.