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Dihedral Angle:-Is The Upward Angle From Horizontal Of: Fixed-Wing Aircraft

The document discusses dihedral angle, which is the upward angle of an aircraft's wings or tailplane from horizontal. It can be positive (dihedral) or negative (anhedral). Dihedral angle influences dihedral effect, which produces roll moments and is important for roll stability, Dutch roll oscillations, and maneuverability. Longitudinal dihedral refers to the angle between the wing and horizontal tail and can impact pitch axis controllability and phugoid oscillations. Swept wings delay shock waves and drag at transonic speeds. Spiral instability can occur if directional stability is too strong relative to dihedral, potentially leading to a gradual downward spiral if uncorrected. Dutch roll involves an out-of-phase combination of yaw

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Abdulla Khan
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96 views5 pages

Dihedral Angle:-Is The Upward Angle From Horizontal Of: Fixed-Wing Aircraft

The document discusses dihedral angle, which is the upward angle of an aircraft's wings or tailplane from horizontal. It can be positive (dihedral) or negative (anhedral). Dihedral angle influences dihedral effect, which produces roll moments and is important for roll stability, Dutch roll oscillations, and maneuverability. Longitudinal dihedral refers to the angle between the wing and horizontal tail and can impact pitch axis controllability and phugoid oscillations. Swept wings delay shock waves and drag at transonic speeds. Spiral instability can occur if directional stability is too strong relative to dihedral, potentially leading to a gradual downward spiral if uncorrected. Dutch roll involves an out-of-phase combination of yaw

Uploaded by

Abdulla Khan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dihedral angle:- is the upward angle from horizontal of

the wings or tail-plane of a fixed-wing aircraft. "Anhedral


angle" is the name given to negative dihedral angle, that
is, when there is a downward angle from horizontal of the
wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft.
Schematic of dihedral and anhedral angle of an aircraft
wing
Dihedral angle (or anhedral angle) has a strong influence
on dihedral effect, which is named after it. Dihedral effect
is the amount of roll moment produced per degree
(or radian) of side-slip. Dihedral effect is a critical factor in
the stability of an aircraft about the roll axis (the spiral
mode). It is also pertinent to the nature of an
aircraft's Dutch roll oscillation and to manoeuvrability
about the roll axis.

Measuring the dihedral angle


Longitudinal dihedral;- is a comparatively obscure term
related to the pitch axis of an airplane. It is the angle
between the zero lift axis of the wing and horizontal tail.
Longitudinal dihedral can influence the nature of
controllability about the pitch axis and the nature of an
aircraft's phugoid-mode oscillation.
A swept wing:- is a wing which angles either backward
or, occasionally, forward, from its root rather than in a
straight sideways direction. Wing sweep has the effect of
delaying the shock waves and
accompanying aerodynamic drag rise caused by
fluid compressibility near the speed of sound, improving
performance. Swept wings are therefore often used on jet
aircraft designed to fly at these speeds. Swept wings are
also sometimes used for other reasons, such as structural
convenience or visibility.
Spiral Instability

Spiral instability exists when the static directional stability of


the airplane is very strong as compared to the effect of its
dihedral in maintaining lateral equilibrium. When the lateral
equilibrium of the airplane is disturbed by a gust of air and a
sideslip is introduced, the strong directional stability tends to
yaw the nose into the resultant relative wind while the
comparatively weak dihedral lags in restoring the lateral
balance. Due to this yaw, the wing on the outside of the turning
moment travels forward faster than the inside wing and as a
consequence, its lift becomes greater. This produces an
overbanking tendency which, if not corrected by the pilot, will
result in the bank angle becoming steeper and steeper. At the
same time, the strong directional stability which yaws the
airplane into the relative wind is actually forcing the nose to a
lower pitch attitude. We then have the start of a slow downward
spiral which, if not counteracted by the pilot, will gradually
increase into a steep spiral dive. Usually the rate of divergence
in the spiral motion is so gradual that the pilot can control the
tendency without any difficulty.
All airplanes are affected to some degree by this characteristic
although they may be inherently stable in all other normal
parameters. This tendency would be indicated to the pilot by the
fact that the airplane cannot be flown "hands off" indefinitely.
Dutch roll is a type of aircraft motion, consisting of an out-
of-phase combination of "tail-wagging" and rocking from
side to side. This yaw-roll coupling is one of the basic flight
dynamic modes (others include phugoid, short period,
and spiral divergence). This motion is normally well
damped in most light aircraft, though some aircraft with
well-damped Dutch roll modes can experience a
degradation in damping as airspeeddecreases
and altitude increases. Dutch roll stability can be artificially
increased by the installation of a yaw damper. Wings
placed well above the center of gravity, sweepback (swept
wings) and dihedral wings tend to increase the roll
restoring force, and therefore increase the Dutch roll
tendencies; this is why high-winged aircraft often are
slightly anhedral, and transport-category swept-wing
aircraft are equipped with yaw dampers.

ABDULLA KHAN***

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