UCK 441E
Flight Stability and Control
Lecture #2
Static Stability
Aircraft Static Stability (longitudinal)
Wing/Tail contributions
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Static Stability
• Static stability is all about the initial tendency of a body to return
to its equilibrium state after being disturbed
• To have a statically stable equilibrium point, the vehicle must
develop a restoring force/moment to bring it back
to the eq. condition
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Static Stability
• Later on we will also deal with dynamic stability, which is
concerned with the time history of the motion after the disturbance
− Can be SS but not DS, but to be DS, must be SS
− SS is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for DS
• To investigate the static stability of an aircraft, can analyze
response to a disturbance in the angle of attack
− At eq. pt., expect moment about c.g. to be zero,
− If then perturb up, need a restoring moment that pushes
nose back down (negative)
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Static Stability
• Classic analysis:
− Eq at point B
− A/C 1 is statically stable
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Static Stability
• Conditions for static stability
note that this requires 𝐶!|!" > 0
• Since with then an equivalent
condition for SS is that
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Basic Aerodynamics
•Take reference point for the wing to be the aerodynamic center
(roughly the 1/4 chord point)
•Consider wing contribution to the pitching moment about the c.g.
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Basic Aerodynamics
• Assume that wing incidence is so that, if
then,
− With measured from the leading edge, the moment is:
− Assuming that
− But the second term contributes very little (drop)
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Basic Aerodynamics
• Non dimensionalize:
• Gives:
• Define:
(leading edge to c.g.)
(leading edge to AC)
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Basic Aerodynamics
• Then
𝐶#!" = 𝐶$# + 𝐶%# 𝛼&'$ ℎ − ℎ)( + 𝐶#$!
≈ 𝐶$# ℎ − ℎ)( + 𝐶#$!
= 𝐶$%# (𝛼* − 𝛼*& ) ℎ − ℎ)( + 𝐶#$!
• Result is interesting, but the key part is how this helps us
analyze the static stability:
since c.g. typically further back that AC
− Why most planes have a second lifting surface (front or back)
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Contribution of the Tail
Some lift provided, but moment is the key part
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Contribution of the Tail
Key items:
1. Angle of attack is wing downwash
2. Lift with and
0.8–1.2 depending on location of tail
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Contribution of the Tail
3. Downwash usually approximated as;
where is the downwash at .
For a wing with an elliptic distribution;
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Contribution of the Tail
• Pitching moment contribution: and are , to not
− So they are at angle to FRL,
so must rotate and then apply moment arms and
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Contribution of the Tail
• First term largest by far. Assume that , so that
• Define the horizontal tail volume ratio , so that
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Contribution of the Tail
• Note: angle of attack of the tail ,
so that;
where
• So that;
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Contribution of the Tail
• More compact form:
where we can chose by selecting and
• Write wing form as
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Contribution of the Tail
• And total is:
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Contribution of the Tail
• For static stability need and
− To ensure that for reasonable value of ,
need
⇒ use to trim the aircraft
• For , consider setup for case that makes
− Note that this is a discussion of the aircraft cg location (“find ”)
− But tail location currently given relative to c.g. ( behind it),
which is buried in need to define it differently.
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Contribution of the Tail
• Define measured from the wing leading edge,
then;
which gives;
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Contribution of the Tail
• A bit messy, but note that if , then
so that
with
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Contribution of the Tail
• Now have that
• Solve for the case with which gives
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Contribution of the Tail
• Note that with then;
which is called the stick fixed neutral point
• Can rewrite as
which gives the pitching moment about the c.g. as a function of
the location of the c.g. with respect to the stick fixed neutral point
For static stability, c.g. must be in front of NP
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Contribution of the Tail
• Summary plot: and
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Contribution of the Tail
• Observations:
− If c.g. at hN P , then CMα = 0
− If c.g. aft of hN P , then CMα > 0 (statically unstable)
− What is the problem with the c.g. being too far forward?
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Control Effects
• Can use elevators to provide incremental lift and moments
− Use this to trim aircraft at different flight settings, i.e.
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Control Effects
• Deflecting elevator gives:
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Control Effects
• Deflecting elevator gives:
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Control Effects
• For trim, need and
So elevator angle needed to trim:
• Note that typically elevator down is taken as being positive
• Also, for level flight, , so expect to
change with speed.
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