This Pitch 1 board is part of the F-16’s analog flight control computer. It adjusts the pitch of the aircraft smoothly by compensating for the pilot’s input on the aircraft control stick.
Unlike fighter jets that preceded it, the F-16 flight is controlled by a fly-by-wire flight control system. The pilot’s stick and rudder controls are connected to a quadruple-redundant flight control computer. This system takes the input of the pilot’s controls and makes thousands of measurements per second to the aircraft’s control surfaces, creating a faster response and smoother flight.
The pitch board pictured above is part of the F-16’s flight control system. Its role in the fly-by-wire system is to take the pitch input from the pilot’s control on the stick and compensate to avoid a pitch maneuver that could damage the aircraft’s structure or cause the pilot to lose control.