Fly-by-Wire vs Conventional Controls In conventional control systems, your control inputs (yoke, rudder pedals) are mechanically linked to the control surfaces using cables, pulleys, and rods. What you do with your hands and feet is physically transmitted to the aircraft. Fly-by-wire removes those mechanical linkages. Your inputs go into a computer which decides how much movement the control surfaces should make and sends electrical signals to actuators instead. Why the shift? Fly-by-wire system