Aircraft Stability and Control

Stability and control characteristics of an airplane are referred as the vehicles handling or
flying qualities.
In the study of airplane stability and control, we will investigate
- What makes an airplane stable?
- How to design the control systems?
- What conditions are necessary for good handling?
- Flight data analysis and flight simulator
Airplane is a Nonlinear Dynamical System.
Airplane performance is governed by forces (along and normal to the flight path), with the
translational motions of the airplane as a response to theses forces.

Airplane stability and control are governed by moments about the CG(Center of Gravity),
with the rotational motion of the airplane as a response to theses moments.

Therefore, moments and rotational motion are the main focus.

Assumptions
- Earth is an inertial reference, no curvature
- Airplane is a rigid body with lateral symmetry
- Thrust acts along fuselage through the CG
- Still atmosphere (no winds, no gusts)
- Constant mass, no internal mass movements

Aerodynamic Nomenclature
To describe the motion of an aircraft, it is necessary to define a suitable coordinate system
for the formulation of the equations of motion.
Aircraft motion can be described by using two coordinate systems
- Inertial coordinate system: frame is fixed to the earth
- Body coordinate system: frame is fixed to the aircraft

Inertial coordinate system (Newtons Law valid)

or (fixed frame): Xf, Yy, Zf

Body fixed frame translates and rotates with the aircraft. This frame is needed in the
development of the equations of motion

The orientation and position of the airplane can be defined in terms of a fixed frame

Forces acting on an aircraft in flight: aerodynamic (L & D), thrust, gravitational forces
These forces can be resolved along an axis system fixed to the aircrafts CG.

Aircraft has three axes

- Longitudinal
- Lateral
- Normal(vertical)
Aircraft rotates around each of these three axes
- Roll(motion around longitudinal axis)
- Pitch(motion around lateral axis)
- Yaw(motion around normal axis)
Forces
- Aerodynamic: X,Y,Z
- Thrust: Tx, Ty, Tz
- Gravitational: Wx, Wy, Wz

Definition of Forces, Moments, and Velocity Components in a

Body Fixed Coordinate
Roll Axis(Xb)

Pitch Axis(Yb)

Yaw Axis(Zb)

Angular Rates

Velocity components

Aerodynamic Force components

Aerodynamic Moment components

Moment of Inertia about each axis

Ix

Iy

Iz

Product of Inertia

Iyz

Ixz

Ixy

p = rate of roll, q = rate of pitch, r = rate of yaw

Components of velocity of CG relative to atmosphere: u,v,w
Component of resultant aerodynamic forces (dimensionless components: Cx, Cy, Cz;
Dynamic Pressure = Q, Reference area = S)
X = CxQS ; Axial force
Y = CyQS ; Side force
Z = CzQS ; Normal force
Note: Aerodynamic forces depend not on the velocity relative to earth fixed frame but
rather on the velocity relative to the surrounding air mass (the airspeed), which will differ
from the groundspeed whenever there is a wind (Air speed = Ground speed Wind speed)
Moments on the airplane
- Moments created by the aerodynamic load distribution (pressure & shear stress
distribution)
- Thrust force not acting through the CG
L = ClQSl ; Rolling moment
M = CmQSl ; Pitching moment
N = CnQSl ; Yawing moment
Where l is a characteristic length
- For aircraft: S = wing planform area,
l = wing span(rolling, yawing), mean chord(pitching)
- For missile: S = max. cross section area,
l = max. diameter
Cx, Cy , Cz, Cl, Cm , Cn = f(M, Re,, , ; ((t), (t), angular velocity)

Definition of ,

where velocity vector V does not in general lie in any of the coordinate planes. Its
orientation is defined by ,
Angle of attack ;

Side slip angle ;

Where
If , < 15o . then

, (, are in radian)

3 controls on an airplane
Aileron
Elevator
Rudder
(change and control moments about the x,y,z axes) ; L, M, N

Moments of the Airplane

A study of stability and control is focused on moments
- Moments in the airplane
- Moments on the control surfaces
On wing, there exists a particular point about which the moments are independent of :
aerodynamic center(a.c)
-

Moment about a.c. : Mac

Moment coefficient about a.c. : CM,ac

At zero lift
Also,
So, CM,ac is constant for angles of attack when the wing is @zero-lift L=0
Mac is called zero-lift moment.
The force and moment system on a wing can be completely specified by the lift and drag
acting through the a.c., plus the moment about the a.c.
Contribution to the moment about the CG of the airplane is

When the moment about the CG is zero, then the airplane is said to be trimmed.

Absolute Angle of Attack

Consider a wing at an such that lift is zero: the wing is at the zero-lift angle of attack L=0

chord line: straight line connecting the leading and trailing edge
We know that conventional cambered airfoils have slightly negative zero-lift angles.
Therefore, the zero-lift line lies slightly above the chord line.

Now, consider the wing pitched to the geometric such that lift is generated.

where : geometric angle of attack between the free-stream relative wind and the chord
line.
The angle between the zero lift line and the relative wind is equal to a = + L=0 :
absolute angle of attack.
When a = 0, then lift is zero no matter what the camber of the airfoil.

The use of a in lieu of is common in studies of stability and control. We adopt this
convention.

Stability
Aircrafts initial response when disturbed from a given , , or bank angle.
Stability is the property of an equilibrium state
- Static
- Dynamic
Equilibrium: If an aircraft is to remain in steady uniform flight (rest or in uniform motion),
Then, the resultant force as well as resultant moment about the CG must both be equal to
zero. State of equilibrium or flying at a trim condition.
Static stability: initial tendency of the vehicle to return to its equilibrium state after a
disturbance

(a) statically stable , (b) statically unstable, (c) neutral stability(boundary between static
stability and static instability)
If we are to have a stable equilibrium point, the vehicle must develop a restoring force or
moment to bring it back to the equilibrium condition.

Dynamic Stability: concerned with the time history of the motion of the vehicle after it is
disturbed from its equilibrium point.

Note that the vehicle can be statically stable but dynamically unstable.
Static stability does not guarantee dynamic stability.
However, for the vehicle to be dynamically stable it must be statically stable.

10

The aircraft motion break down into two motions with respect to the body fixed frame
-

Longitudinal motion: Motion of the aircraft (a/c) in the z-x plane.

(forward/backward, upward/downward motion, pitching motion)
Lateral motion: Motion of the a/c out of the z-x plane.
(sideways, rolling motion)

In our general equations of motion, there exists coupling between the longitudinal and
lateral equations of motion. When small disturbance assumptions are applied,
longitudinal and lateral motions become effectively uncoupled.
An a/c can continue in steady un-accelerated flight when the resultant external force and
moment about the CG both banish.

Aircraft Longitudinal Static Stability

Our primary concern is for the pitching motion of the a/c.
Steady symmetric flight
Consider an a/c in steady symmetric flight an equilibrium state
- All nonzero forces and the velocity vector lie in the z-x plane
- The a/c is neither rolling, yawing or moving sideways: i.e. no lateral motion
- The key motion parameters which establish the equilibrium state are: V and
-

All forces are balanced: there is no translational acceleration or pitch rotation.

: over useful range of (below the stall)

11

Pitch balance and conditions for static stability

At the equilibrium condition, the net moment about the mass center must be zero Cm = 0;
this is the longitudinal balance condition equilibrium state.
Lets consider two airplanes and their respective pitching moment

where Cm is assumed to be linear until the wing is close to stalling.

At point B ; Cm c.g. = 0 (trim point)
Suppose the a/c suddenly encounter an upward gust such that is increased to point C.
-

a/c 1 would develop a negative (nose-down) pitching moment that would tend to
rotate the a/c back toward its equilibrium point
a/c 2 would develop a positive (nose-up) pitching moment that would tend to rotate
the a/c away from the equilibrium

If a/c encounters a disturbance that reduces (point A)

-

a/c 1 would develop a nose-up moment: back toward the equilibrium

a/c 2 would develop a nose-down moment: away from the equilibrium

To have static longitudinal stability

(through the equilibrium point)
The a/c pitching moment curve must have a negative slope.
Or if we assume is the only variable for Cm, then

12

Another point

Both satisfy the condition for static stability. However, only curve 1 can be trimmed at a
positive . (without > 0, a/c cant produce a positive lift)
Therefore, in addition to having static stability, we need

> 0 to trim at positive .

Also, relation between Cm and CL

Requirement for static stability

and Cm =

dCm dCm dCL

=
< 0 ; derivatives differ only by the slope of the lift curve
dCL dCL d

So far, we have considered the total a/c pitching moment. Now, lets consider the
consideration of the wing, fuselage, tail, propulsion to the pitching moment and static
stability characteristics of the a/c.
Total a/c moment coefficient:

13

Contribution of Aircraft Components

Wing contribution
We consider the conventional configuration:
- wing has positive camber
- tail (normally symmetric airfoil section) behind wing

where
= mean aerodynamic chord
= distance from the leading edge to aerodynamic center (a.c)
= distance from the leading edge to center of gravity (CG)
z = vertical displacement of CG
Pitching moment about the CG
Assume the angle of attack is small enough cos w ~ 1, sin w ~ w , and the term of
is negligible compared to other terms, we have the following approximation equations in
nondimensional format:
Lift of the Wing(divided by

14

Pitching Moment of the Wing (divided by

where
For a wing-alone design to be statically stable, the a.c must lie behind the CG to make

Also, we want to trim the a/c @ positive ->

must be greater than zero

A positive pitching moment about a.c can be achieved by using negative-cambered airfoil
section

Example
A wing-body model is tested in a subsonic wind tunnel. The lift is found to be at
zero at a geometric angle of attack of =-1.5o. At =5o, the lift coefficient is
measured as 0.52. Also, at =1o and 7.88o, the moment coefficient about the center
of gravity are measured as -0.01 and 0.05, respectively. The center of gravity
located at 0.35 . Calculate the location of aerodynamic center and
.

15

Solution
Calculate the lift curve slope

Moment about the center of gravity(CG)

Evaluate at =1.0o
(1)
Evaluate at =7.88o
(2)
Two equations and two unknowns
Solving (1) and (2) and the value of

(a.c. location) is found as h = 0.35(CG location)

<0
>0
No good!,

16

For many aircrafts, CG position is located slightly aft. of a.c.

Also, the wing has positive camber.
Therefore, the wing contribution to static longitudinal stability is destabilizing for most
conventional a/c.
For flying wing
- Negative camber: flight possible at > 0, CL > 0
- Zero camber: flight possible only at = 0 or CL = 0
- Positive camber: flight not possible at any positive or CL
So, for straight-winged tailless a/c, only the negative camber satisfies the conditions for
stable flight.
Flying wing airplanes based on a straight wing with negative camber are not in general use
because of:
- The dynamic characteristics tend to be unsatisfactory
- The permissible CG range is too small
- The drag and CLmax characteristics are not good
Wing-tail Arrangement

17

Tail Contribution Aft. Tail

When the tail is mounted on an airplane, the interference occurs due to downward
deflection of the flow at the tail caused by the wing
Characterized by : mean downwash angle.
Flow surrounding a lifting line

18

Forces acting on the tail

where
: downwash angle
: average or effective relative wind at the tail
: tail angle (must be positive as shown) longitudinal dihedral
Contribution of the tail to the airplane lift (perpendicular to V)

Where is small and Dt can be neglected compared with Lt contribution of the tail to the
aircraft Lift=Lt

Note: Often

is based on the local q at the tail=q, so, tail efficiency factor =[0.8-1.2]

is introduced to represent =
at : lift-curve slope of the tail based on

(Obtained in a wind-tunnel test).

19

Pitching moment of the tail about the center of gravity

From experience, first term >> other terms

For small angles

where

is the ratio of two volumes characteristic of the aircraft's geometry

"Horizontal-tail volume ratio" or "tail volume" VH

Where VH is not a constant (although it does not vary much) since CG is not a fixed point
(varies with the loading condition and fuel consumption)
So, it is convenient to calculate the moment of the tail about a fixed point, the mean a.c. of
the wing-body combination

20

It is more convenient to calculate the moment of the tail about a fixed point (mean a.c. of
the wing-body combination)

Define,

which leads to

The moment of the tail about the wing-body mean a.c. is

and its moment about the CG is

Propulsive system contribution

- Thrust and in-plane force acting on propeller
- Interaction of the propulsive slipstream with the other parts of the aircraft
Assume, interaction part is included in the moments already given for the wing, body, and
tail :
= remaining moments from propulsive unit

21

Total Pitching Moment and Neutral Point

Total Lift
The total lift is the summation of the wing-body lift and tail lift:

Total Pitching Moment

The total pitching moment consists of those from wing-body, tail, and from propulsion.
Total pitching moment about the CG (no assumptions about thrust, compressibility,
aeroelastic effects)

From the above total lift and pitching moment formula, we have some other important
results.
From definition:

Note that

, we have calculation of pitch stiffness:

can be made negative (positive stiffness) by a suitable choice of h (position

of CG).
CG position h for which
-

= 0 is important.

This is boundary between + and pitch stiffness

22

The neutral point (NP) is defined as the CG position hn, such that
-

= 0.

NP is vehicle aerodynamic center

We can find NP by setting

=0

Then we can rewrite the pitch stiffness equation as

(Excellent way of finding hn from test results of

and

The difference between the CG position and the NP : Static Margin (Kn)
Kn = hn h
We must have h < hn or Kn > 0
- CG must be forward of NP
- The greater the Kn : more stable

23

Effect of Linear Lift and Moment on Neutral Point

Assume the forces and moments on the wing, body, tail, and propulsion system are linear in
, and = 1:

Linear Lift
For linear lift: CL = a, recall that

then we substitute linear relationships:

Let

then we finally obtain

24

where a : lift-curve slope of the whole configuration.

: angle of attack of the zero-lift line of the whole configuration

Total pitching moment

From linear moment relationship

, and recall total lift

Similarly, when we substitute above linear relationship, we finally get

25

Further, when we apply the NP concept, or

, we can simplify the linear

moment equation:

Effect of CG location on Cm

Longitudinal Control
The change of Cm by pilot or automatic control system
a change of propulsive thrust
change in Cm of configuration (using aerodynamics, elevator, wing flaps, spoilers,
horizontal tail rotation)
another way of changing the trim condition changing the center of gravity (i.e.
hang-glider)

26

Main aerodynamic surfaces for longitudinal control:

- on Tail: elevator (Cm )
- on Wing: slats (leading-edge), flaps (trailing-edge), spoilers
Deflection of the elevator through an angle e produces increments in both the Cm and CL of
the airplane. The resulting lift and pitching moment are given by

In the case of linear lift and moment, we further have:

+ e increases

27

Effects of e
A pilot
back)
1.
2.
3.

solves the trim problem manually by moving elevator control (stick forward or

Beginning in a trimmed level flight condition, the pilot decides to speed up

Opens the throttle, the a/c speeds up
The increased dynamic pressure causes a momentary increase in lift, causing the
a/c to begin to pitch-up and climb in an upward loop
4. The pilot responds by pushing the stick forward(elevator down) adjusting the
elevators to bring the nose back down to a level flight
5. By moving the elevator, the pitch balance point is moved to a smaller value of
where there is no longer excess lift.

28

Derivatives

(elevator control power)

From previous discussion of lift with ignoring tail efficiency factor()

The lift coefficient of the tail becomes

Where ae =

is elevator effectiveness.

It is obvious that for a tailess airplane, only the first term applies where the subscript wb
can be dropped.
From previous discussion of pitching moment,

Usually the last term is negligible.

It is also obvious that for a tailed airplane, the first term does not apply, and for a tailess
airplane
and the neutral point becomes the aerodynamic center of wing-body.

29

Now taking only dominant terms

Elevator Angle to Trim

Trim condition is

In linear case,

30

leading to

We can calculate the elevator angle to trim:

where

31

Trimmed Lift Curve

Use the elevator to trim equations we can get the trimmed lift versus trimmed angle of
attack relationship:

with elevator angle to trim, the slope of lift coefficient is slower, less sensitive to
change of , because configuration change due to e

with elevator angle to trim, a zero angle of attack = 0 still generates a lift, due to
e

32

Variation of etrim with Speed

In the absence of compressibility, aeroelastic effects, propulsive system effects, and the
aerodynamic coefficient are const.
For a steady, unaccelerated flight, the variation of etrim with speed is simple.

where Ve: equivalent airspeed (speed at sea level)

-

for a given CG (forward) position, increase trim speed requires more elevator angle
deflection
for a given trim speed, the more CG forward (larger static margin), the less elevator
angle deflection requires
for a zero lift, there must have a positive deflection of e

33

Elevator angle to trim at various CG position

Variation of elevation angle to trim with speed and CG position

34

Flight Determination of hn
The measurement of hn requires the measurement of
From trim, etrim equations

or

Measure

at various speeds for different CG positions

Then, measure slope and then plot them as a function of CG position

Interception on the h-axis is the required N.P.

35

The Control Hinge Moment

To rotate any of the aerodynamic control surfaces(elevator, aileron, rudder) about its hinge,
it is necessary to apply force to it to overcome the aerodynamic pressures that resist the
motion
Force may be supplied by
- human through a mechanical system of cables, pulleys
- powered by actuator
- Fly-by wire control
We need to know the exact force
Consider elevator with a tab aerodynamic forces on control surface produce a moment
about the hinge

36

The aerodynamic forces on any control surface produce a moment about

the hinge. The coefficient of elevator hinge moment:

He : the moment about the elevator hinge line of the aerodynamic forces on the elevator tab
Se : the area of the portion of elevator and tab that lies aft of the elevator hinge line.
: Mean chord

(se : span of elevator)

In practice, it is often satisfactory to assume Che is a linear function of surface (wing or tail)
angle of attack s , angle of elevator e, and angle of tab t :

Tailless airplane: s =

Tailed airplane: s = t
(1) b0 = 0 for symmetric airfoil section of the tail
(2)
Then the coefficient Che for a tailed airplane becomes:

37

The Use of Tabs

The stick force at trim can be made zero by incorporating tab. Stick force at the trimmed
flight speed should be zero in order to avoid pilots fatigue by trying to maintain the
necessary stick force.
Trim tab can be used to zero out the hinge moment to eliminate the stick force.
Although the trim tab has been a great influence over the hinge moment, it has only a slight
effect on the lift produced by the control surface.

Trim Tabs: A certain elevator angle etrim is required for trim when flying at certain velocity.
The trim tabs are supplied to relieve the pilot of the load

38

Free Elevator
Stick-fixed condition is an ideal approximation. The opposite extreme is also of interest:
stick-free condition: Che = 0

where

The magnitude of gradients of CL and Cm are reduced compared to CL and Cm

respectively. Generally speaking, that leads to a reduction of stability.

39

Free Elevator Factor

Tailess Airplane,

: free elevator factor.

Tailed airplane

where F = 1-(ae/at)(b1/b2) is called the free elevator factor for a tail.

40

Elevator-Free Neutral Point

Tailed Airplane

Tailless Airplane

41

Stick Forces
To deflect a control surface, the pilot must move the control stick or rudder pedals.
The forces exerted by the pilot to move the control surface is called the Stick Force. The
stick force is proportional to the hinge moment acting on the control surface.

Elevator Control System Schematics

Consider a small displacement from equilibrium, conservations of energy gives

where P is the force applied by the pilot (positive as shown in the figure), the work done by
the power boost system is Wb, hence we have

42

Recall

43

Stick Force Gradients

Stick force gradient is a measure of the change in stick force needed to change the speed of
the airplane. To provide the airplane with speed stability, the stick force gradient must be
negative,

The larger the gradient, the more resistant the aircraft will be to disturbances in the flight.

44

Maneuverability Elevator Angle per g

Investigate the elevator angle required to hold the airplane in a steady pull-up with load
factor n.
(n=1, straight, horizontal flight)
Consider an airplane in a pull-up

Net normal force

45

When the aircraft is in straight horizontal flight at the same speed and altitude, the elevator
angle to trim is e, the control force to trim is P.
When in the pull-up, these change to
The ratio
- Elevator angle per g
- Control force per g

Provides a measure of the maneuverability of the aircraft

Smaller they are the more maneuverable it is.

Consider an aircraft in straight level flight, for which the trimmed lift and moment
equations hold.

where

, T=D, qv=1/2V2

- are the trim values for

Using the load factor when the aircraft beginning a pure pull-up

Where,
Weight Coefficient for the Aircraft

The pitch rate q is non-dimensionalized via

The following lift and moment equations then apply

46

Assume that the maneuver is gentle enough that the difference between the level-flight trim
state and the pull-up state is small

then

In matrix form

then

For this analysis of elevator angle per g, we are only interested in the elevator angle part
of the solution

Make the substitution

Where,
Mass Ratio( m: mass of aircraft)

47

Obtain,

Elevator angle per g equation

Control-Fixed Maneuver Point and Margin

The situation where elevator angle per g:

becomes zero is a critical point at which no

control is possible. We identify the associated mass center location a hm which is the value
of h for the equation goes to zero; namely

Note:

- value at hm not times hm (same for moment coefficient)

q derivatives dependent on h
(hm-h) - the elevator fixed or stick-fixed control margin, or control-fixed
maneuver margin.
If we approximate the q derivatives as being independent of h, we can write,

CG Limit
One of the dominant parameters of longitudinal stability and control is the fore-and-aft
location of the CG.

48

What range of CG position is consistent with satisfactory handling qualities?

The AFT Limit
The most rearward allowable location of the CG is determined by consideration of
longitudinal stability and control sensitivity
The Forward Limit
As the CG moves forward, the stability increases, and larger control movements and forces
are required to maneuver or change the trim.
The following CG limits is determined by following requirements
1. The control force per g shall not exceed a specified value
2. The control force gradient at trim (dP/dV) shall not exceed a specified value
3. The control force requirements to land, from trim at the approach speed, shall not
exceed a specified value
4. The elevator angle required to land shall not exceed max up elevator
5. The elevator angle required to raise the nose-wheel off the ground at takeoff speed
shall not exceed the max-up elevators

49

Lateral Static Stability and Control

In the previous chapters we dealt with motions of the airplanes during which the relative
wind remained in the plane of the symmetry of the airplane. In this chapter on lateral and
directional stability and control, we shall investigate the effects of moving the relative wind
out of the plane of symmetry and of applying a rolling or yawing velocity to the airplane.
The moment associated with yawing and rolling are cross-coupled, i.e., the angular
velocity in yaw produces rolling moments and vice versa.
At a normal flight, i.e., steady rectilinear symmetric motion, all the lateral motion
and force variables are zeroes.
There is no fundamental trimming problem: control surfaces (ailerons and rudder)
would normally undeflected.
Lateral control provides secondary trimming functions in the case of a-symmetry.
Effects of CG movement are negligible on lateral and directional stability
Due to cross-coupling effect, (e.g., the rolling motion will cause sideslip) we investigate the
directional and lateral effects of sideslip.
Sideslip Effects
The airplane is banked in straight flight in such a way that the tilted lift vector (body axis y
-direction component) provides a lateral force component resulting in a side-ward velocity.
The angle that the longitudinal axis of the airplane makes to the relative wind is called the
sideslip angle or the yaw angle = - < 0.
The cross effects are illustrated by the impacts of yawing motion (sideslip) on the
directional (yawing) moment N, lateral (rolling) moment L , and the side force Y .

50

Yawing moment (z-axis) about an aircraft's center of gravity is denoted as N

b is wingspan
For longitudinal equilibrium, Cm < 0 for static stability (also + trim ).
For yaw stability, sideslip angle measures yaw motion

For static stability, an increase must generate a positive yawing torque (+N), which will
in turn tend to reduce . Positive yawing moment tends to turns the aircraft into the flow
direction.
"Weathercock" Stability always point into the relative wind

(stable)

51

Contributions to Yawing Moment

Two primary components: wing-fuselage, vertical stabilizer
Yawing Moment Coefficient
- Normal Force coefficient for the vertical tail
- Normal force coefficient for the wing-body
with the derivatives with respect to the slide slip angle ()

The wing-fuselage component is naturally negative

and hence destabilizing.

The vertical stabilizer(fin) has

and easily overpowers the unstable wing-body component for any reasonably sized vertical
tail area.
Lift for the vertical tail
if v is small
Yawing moment for the tail

Where

Vertical Tail Volume Ratio

52

The angle of attack at the vertical stabilizer

sidewash angle due to the airflow disturbance of the wing-body at the
tail which changes with side slip angle
+ ve when it increases v, + ve when it corresponds to a flow in the y-dir
The stability derivative for vertical stabilizer for yaw moment relative to is

Where,

Note: Subscript F means vertical stabilizer (v)

53

Yaw Control
Similar to the elevator on the horizontal stabilizer, the vertical stabilizer has a rudder for
yaw control. The local lift at the rudder

- Rudder Power
Rudder power should be big enough to maintain =0
So, the yawing moment for small is

For steady motion,

Cn=0
Desired Ratio

Cn is the total yawing moment during steady . The rudder must provide yawing moment
to accommodate a number of situations in addition to correct side slip angle during
normal flight. These include
Coordinated turns
Cross-wind landing pilot requires to fly at
Asymmetric Thrust condition Engine failure
Spin recovery
Lateral stability and directional stability are closely related. If an aircraft has a lot of
directional stability, (most do) it tends to become unstable laterally. This is because the
"bank angle starts the aircraft turning", which speeds up the wing on the outside of the turn
(high wing). The fast wing produces more lift, which rolls the aircraft into a steeper bank.

54

All aircraft will exhibit negative lateral static stability (unstable) unless the designer adds
some combination of design features listed below
dihedral
high wing
swept wing

Roll(Lateral) Stability and Control

The rolling moment (x-axis) about an aircrafts mass center is denoted : L

Sideslip produces two important effects other than those mentioned directional effects.
They are rolling moment and the side force.
Wing Dihedral
Wing dihedral can be the dominant stabilizing effect for roll. The action of dihedral,
however, is not a direct static effect. A roll disturbance leads to sideslip, sideslip interacts
with dihedral to return the aircraft to a wing-level situation. The key stability derivative is
CL which must be negative for roll stability
for Stability

55

For an aircraft with wing dihedral angle , the process is as follows

1. Suppose the aircraft is disturbed to some positive roll angle
2. The net lift will then have some component in the horizontal y-direction
3. The aircraft will begin to pick up vel. In the y-axis direction due to the horizontal
component of lift, resulting in a positive sideslip situation

Dihedral effects due to sideslips

For nose right situation as shown, the rolling moment becomes

Let the velocity of the aircraft (body fixed frame)

56

For a steady value of sideslip and roll angle (ignore rate terms) the velocity seen by the
right wing and the left wing is different. In local reference frame we have (for small )

Thus relative to the reference flight condition the right wing sees an increased angle of
attack while the left wing sees the opposite.

The fuselage contribution to the lateral effect is a side force. The positiveness or
negativeness of the resulting rolling moment depends on the location of c.p. with respect to
the c.g.

57

Wing sweep generally enhances roll stability as the relative obliqueness between the left
and right wing changes with , Cl<0

58

Height of the vertical fin above the mass center can enhance the roll stability as the side
force lift changes with sideslip angle. For +ve +ve N (yawing moment) from force at
the tail, the higher the vertical fin's acting force results stronger roll moment

Roll Control-Ailerons
Ailerons provide the aircraft with ability to generate a controlled rolling moment by
introducing a differential lift on the right and left wings. Ailerons are used
to initiate and trim a bank angle for turning the aircraft
to set a roll angle to trim-out any side forces or rolling moments generated by the
vertical tail

a mean value of the angular displacements of two ailerons

With aileron deflection angle defined as positive aileron deflection for right aileron down
will produce a negative roll moment.
Thus, the control derivatives

59

Lateral- Directional Static Stability

Equilibrium
bank angle, Flight Path angle
Rolling Moment

Yawing Moment

Side Force

(Aerodynamics)
Sum of the Forces in y-direction
Sum of the Moments in x-direction
Sum of the Moments in the z-direction

Aerodynamic moment /force Coefficients

3 equations, 5unknowns, , r, a, ,

60

Example
Level flight ==0
Assume that all aerodynamic parameters are known. Aircraft characteristics are
also known (velocity and altitude), flight conditions. Twin engine aircraft wing
mounted engine
1. One (left) engine out condition. Solve for , a, r
Assume Fy,thrust=0, Lthrust=0
Then Next=-Tl

61

DYNAMIC STABILITY
Aircraft Equations of Motion
Dynamic characteristics of an aircraft is important in assessing its handling and flying
qualities as well as for designing autopilot.
Lets look at the dynamic characteristics of an aircraft and the relationship of the motion to
the vehicles aerodynamic characteristics.

Rigid Body Equations of Motion

From Newtons second law (summation of all external forces or external moments acting
on a body is equal to the time rate of change of the linear or angular momentum of the
body)

where

H Angular Momentum
F Contributions due to aerodynamics, propulsive, gravitational forces
acting on the aircraft
r Position of mass element to the center of mass
vc Velocity of the center of mass
m Element of mass of the aircraft
Velocity of the element mass relative to inertial frame
F Resulting force acting on the element

62

Forces working an aircraft

Forces on the aircraft

Total external forces acting on the aircraft is

Velocity of the differential mass m is

where Angular velocity - is a vector

- Position of mass element
- Rotational velocity of the element relative to the center of mass, where the
radius stays constant with time.

63

Using above three equations

If we assume that the mass of the aircraft is constant then,

because r is measured from the center of mass the

is zero

External force on the aircraft to the motion of the vehicle's center of mass

Moments on an Aircraft
In a similar manner, we can develop equation referred to a moving mass center.
For differential element of mass m,

M =
From

d
d
H = (r vm)
dt
dt

(the velocity of the mass element in terms of velocity of

center of mass element to the center of mass), the total moment of momentum becomes,

Where, angular velocity,

p, q, r angular velocity components about their respective axes

And position vector,

64

The scalar component of H is,

Moment of Inertia

Then

The larger the moment of inertia of the object, the greater the resistance to rotate. We pick
the fixed body reference because the moment of inertia does not change in this reference.
In the inertial frame the moment of inertia changes depending on role, pitch and yaw of the
aircraft. We need the relationship between body frame and fixed inertial frame. We need
to use the inertial frame to express the attitude of the aircraft.

Derivatives of Velocity and Moment of Inertia Vectors

We need to determine the derivatives of vectors V and H referred to the rotating body
frame of reference for the force and moment equations below

65

Consider the derivative of an arbitrary vector A referred to the rotating body frame having
angular velocity . Therefore, the relationship between inertial frame and body frame is,

Then,

The force scalar,

Moment scalars,
The Rolling Moment,
The Pitching moment

The Yaw moment

The aircraft is symmetric on the plane of x-z. For a symmetric aircraft,

The moment equations then become,

66

Orientation and Position of the Aircraft

The equations of motion have been derived for an axis system fixed to the aircraft. The
position and orientation of the aircraft can be defined in terms of a fixed frame of reference.
The orientation of the aircraft can be described by 3 consecutive rotations (order is
important)
angular rotations are called "Euler angles"

67

Rotation
1. Rotate the xf, yf, zf frame about 0zf through the yaw angle to the frame to x1,
y1, z1
Rotation
2. Rotate the x1, y1, z1 frame about 0y1, through the pitch angle bringing the
frame to x2, y2, z2.
Rotation (fi)
3. Rotate the x2, y2, z2 frame about 0x2 through the roll angle to bring the
frame to x3, y3, z3
Angles are limited to:

68

With the Euler angles, we can determine the flight velocity component relative to the fixed
reference frame. Let the velocity components along the xf, yf, zf frame be,

and subscripts 1 and 2 denote components along x1, y1, z1 and x2, y2, z2

and

u1 = u2 cos + w 2 sin
v1 = v 2
w1 = u2 sin + w 2 cos

u2 = u

v 2 = v cos w sin
w 2 = v sin + w cos

where u,v and w are velocity components along the body axis xb, yb, zb. Then the velocity
component along the inertial frame.

dx
dt
C C
dy = C S
dt
dz S

dt

S S C C S
S S S + C C
S C

C S C + S S u

C S S S C v
w
C C

Note: Equations in the book has typo's do not use them

Where,

Integration of the above equations yields the aircrafts position relative to the fixed frame of
reference. The relationship between the angular velocity in the body frame (p, q and r) and

69

the Euler rates (

) are

By integrating these equations we can determine the Euler angles , and .

Gravitational and Thrust Forces

Gravitational force on the aircraft acts through the CG of the aircraft will not produce any
moments but contribute to the external force acting on the aircraft

Gravitational force components acting along the body axis (function of aircrafts orientation
in space)

70

Components of gravitational force acting along the body axis

Force and moments due to propulsion system

The force and moment due to the thrust is as follows,

We have 15 coupled, nonlinear ordinary differential equations in the independent variables

t and 12 dependent variables (with Euler angle velocity component).
Dependent Variables
Center of Gravity Location: x, y, z
Attitude: , ,
Velocity: u, v, w (Body frame)
Angular Velocity: p, q, r
X,Y,Z & L,M,N Aerodynamic forces and moments
Depending on relative motion of the aircraft with respect to air given by V,,
control surface setting.

71

Summary of kinematic and dynamic equations

Force Equations

Moment Equations

Body angular velocities in terms of Euler angles and Euler rates

Euler rates in terms of Euler angles and body angular velocities

Velocity of aircraft in the fixed frame in terms of Euler angles and body
velocity component

72

73

Small Perturbation Problem

Above equations can be linearized using the small disturbances theory. Assume that the
motion of the aircraft consists of small deviation about a steady flight condition. (No large
amplitude motions, spinning, stalled flight). All the variables in the equations of motion
are replaced reference value and small perturbation.

For convenience, the reference flight condition is assumed to be symmetric and propulsive
forces are assumed to remain constant with no angular velocity.

Also align x-axis so that it is along the direction of the aircraft velocity vector, then,
o reference angle of climb (not small)
uo reference flight speed
x-equation
Substituting

Neglect products of the disturbance and assume that vo=wo=po=qo=ro=o=o=0

74

Then x-equation becomes

Simplify Further

Where,

When the reference value is zero omit

75

Reference Steady State

If all the disturbance quantities are set to equal zero, then they apply to the reference flight
condition

Then we have,

Note:
X is the change in aerodynamic and propulsive force in the x-direction.

Expressed by means of Taylor series in terms of perturbation variables

- Stability derivatives evaluated at reference flight condition
Then,

Or rearranging,

Dividing by m,

76

The change in aerodynamic forces and moments are function of motion variables u, v,
w and so forth. The aerodynamic derivatives usually the most important for the
conventional aircraft motion analysis follow.

77

Linearized small-disturbance longitudinal rigid body equations

of motion
Longitudinal Equations

Lateral Equations

Above two set of equations are both in the desired 1st order form

X is the state vector

C is the control vector
A & B are the system matrices
With additional kinematics equations

78

State vector for longitudinal system,

State vector for lateral system,

Dimensional and Non-dimensional terms

Advantages of using non-dimensional terms
Non-dimensional stability derivatives are constant over a vehicles flight
envelope
Non-dimensional terms for one vehicle may be compared with those for
another vehicle even though they may vary greatly in size or flight regime
MASS
The mass ratio is the ratio of the aircraft mass over the mass of the volume of air (this may
vary depending on what reference, hence below).

FORCES

MOMENTS

DISTANCES

79

VELOCITIES

In small disturbance case,

are aerodynamic angles

ANGULAR VELOCITIES

TIME AND TIME DERIVATIVES

where : aerodynamic time in airsec (distance traveled in unit of l)

: unit of aerodynamic time

MOMENT OF INERTIA

80

Aerodynamic Force and Moment Representation

The method of representing the aerodynamic forces and moments by stability coefficients
was first introduced by Bryan over three quarters of a century ago. The technique proposed
by Bryan assumes that the aerodynamic forces and moments can be expressed as a function
of the instantaneous values of the perturbation variables. The perturbation variables are the
instantaneous changes from the reference conditions of the translational velocities, angular
velocities, control deflection, and their derivatives. With this assumption, we can express
the aerodynamic forces and moments by means of a Taylor series expansion of the
perturbation variables about the reference equilibrium condition.

X/u is the stability derivative, evaluated at the reference flight condition

X/u(u) the contribution of the change in velocity u to the change in X in the
X force

81

It is also possible to express the stability derivative in terms of the stability coefficient (Cxu),

Where,

In our analysis we will only use subsonic flight speed. The stability coefficients change
dramatically near Mach one and hence why we restrict our analysis to subsonic.

Derivatives Due to the Change in Forward Speed

CHANGE IN FORWARD SPEED
The drag, lift, thrust and pitching moments vary with changes in the airplanes forward
speed (drag and thrust change in the x-direction). The change in the X force, that is, X
due to change in forward speed, can be expressed as,

Therefore

- Speed Damping Derivative

Rewriting above equation and substituting in the drag definition results in,

Where the 0 subscript represents the reference condition at uo. Remember from before,

Above equation can be represented in coefficient form as,

82

Where, the change in drag coefficient and changes in thrust coefficient can be expressed as,

The change in drag coefficient can also be estimated from a drag versus Mach number
graph using,

Where M is the Mach number of interest. The thrust term CTu is zero for gliding flight; and
a good approximation for jet aircraft as well. The change in thrust coefficient for a
propeller can be approximated by assuming it is equal to the negative of the reference drag
coefficient.
For a variable pitched propeller and piston engine power plant,
(for a propeller)

Change in the Z-force with respect to Changes in Forward Speed

The change Z force can be shown as,

CLu Change in lift coefficient with Mach number

In coefficient form,

The change in lift can be estimated from the Prandtl Glauert formula (corrects the
incompressible lift coefficient for Mach effect, because Cp=(p-p)/q approaches infinite
at M = 1),

83

Differentiating X equation with respect to Mach number results in,

But,

a is the speed of sound

Therefore the increase in lift with respect to speed can be found by,

This can be neglected for low speed but becomes of increase importance when approach the
critical Mach number.

The change in the pitching moment due to variations in the forward speed
The change in pitching moment M due to u can be expressed as,

or

The moment coefficient can be estimated as follows,

The moment changes because of aeroelasticity effects.

84

Derivatives Due to the Pitching Velocity, q

The aerodynamic characteristics of both the wing and the horizontal tail are affected by
the pitching motion of the airplane. The wing contribution usually is quite small in
comparison to that produced by the tail. A common practice is to compute the tail
contribution and then increase it by 10 percent to account for the wing.

Change in Lifting force acting on the tail with respect to pitch velocity
The pitching rate q causes a change in the angle of attack at the tail, which results in a
change in the lift force acting on the tail.

or

Note: =Qt/Qw tail efficiency (ratio of dynamic pressures)

Therefore, the change in Z force due to change in pitch rate q is,

85

Where,

The pitching moment due to the change in lift on the tail

The change in pitching moment due to the change in lift on the tail can be calculated as
follows,

Therefore, the change in pitching moment coefficients with respect to pitch rate q is,

Using above equations result in the tail contribution,

The coefficients for the complete airplane are obtained by increasing the tail values by 10
percent to account for the wing and fuselage contribution.

86

Derivatives Due to the Time Rate of Change of the Angle of Attack

The stability coefficients

and

arise because of the lag in the wing downwash

getting to the tail. As the wing angle of attack changes, the circulation around the wing will
be altered. The change in circulation alters the downwash at the tail; however, it takes a
finite time for the alteration to occur. The figure shown below illustrates the lag in flow
field development.

Change in z force due to lag in angle of attack

If the aircraft is moving at a forward velocity of uo, then the lag time to reach the tail piece
is t=lt/u0 to reach the tail surface. The lag in angle of attack at the tail can be expressed as,

87

Then the change in the lift force can be expressed as,

Then the force coefficient can be expressed as,

Therefore the force stability coefficient due to lag in downwash can be expressed as,

Change moment due to lag in angle of attack

The change in pitching moment due to the lag in the downwash field can be calculated as,

In non-dimensional form,

Therefore the moment stability coefficient due to lag in downwash can be expressed as,

Note: These equations are for a tail only, the entire aircraft coefficients can be obtained by
multiplying by 1.1 hence the following equations

88

For the Entire Aircraft

The Derivative Due to Rolling Rate, p

The stability coefficients

arise due to the rolling angular velocity, p. When

an airplane rolls about its longitudinal axis, the roll rate creates a linear velocity distribution
over the vertical and horizontal, and wing surfaces. The velocity distribution causes a local
change in angle of attack over each of these surfaces that results in a change in the lift
distribution and consequently, the moment about the center of gravity On the portion of

89

the wing rolling down, an increase in angle of attack is created by the rolling motion. This
results in an increase in the lift distribution over the downward-moving wing. If we
examine the upward-moving part of the wing we observe that the rolling velocity causes a
decrease in the local angle of attack and the lift distribution decreases. The change in the
lift distribution across the wing produces a rolling moment that opposes the rolling motion
and is proportional to the roll rate, p. A negative rolling velocity induces a positive rolling
moment.
An estimate of the rolling damping derivative,

, due to the wing surface can be

developed using an incremental lift force created by rolling motion,

Where the induced angle is expressed as,

The incremental roll moment can be estimated by multiplying the incremental lift by the
moment arm y,

Integrating across the wing results in total rolling moment,

In coefficient form,

To simplify this integral, the sectional lift curve slope is approximated by the wing lift
curve slope as follows,

90

The roll damping coefficient

is defined in terms of a nondimensional roll rate,

Therefore using the definition above, the roll damping coefficient can be expressed as,

Note: y2/S is aspect ratio (AR)

Roll damping primarily depends on the wingspan, the larger the wingspan the higher the
roll dampening. Our above analysis only considers the primary contribution of the wing
but in fact the vertical and horizontal tail provide roll dampening as well. This is a good
assumption providing the aircraft wing does not have a low aspect ratio.
Note:
is negligible

91

Derivative due to Yaw Rate, r

92

The stability coefficients

are caused by the yawing angular velocity, r. A

yawing rate causes a change in the side force acting on the vertical tail surface. As in the
case of the other angular rate coefficients angular motion creates a local change in the angle
of attack or in this case a change in side slip angle of the vertical tail.

Side force due to yaw rate

A positive yaw rate produces a negative sideslip angle () on the vertical tail. The side
force created by the negative sideslip angle is in the positive direction,

Where the change in side slip or change in angle of attack of the vertical tail (for a positive
yawing rate) can be expressed as,

Rewriting the side force in coefficient terms yields,

v=Qv/Q
The stability coefficient

is defined in terms of the nondimensional yaw rate as follows,

Therefore differentiating above equation results in,

The term

is approximately

, therefore,

93

Yaw moment due to yaw rate

The yaw moment produced by the yawing rate is a result of the sideslip angle induced on
the vertical tail. A positive yaw rate produces a negative sideslip at the vertical tail or a
positive side force on the tail. A positive side force causes a negative yawing moment.
Therefore the yawing moment can be expressed as,

Using the induced angle described earlier,

Substituting into the yawing moment equation and nondimensionalizing results in,

Where,

all oppose the motion of the vehicle is thus can be considered

as damping terms.

94

95

96

Example
Estimate the longitudinal stability derivative for the low speed STOL (Short takeoff and
landing) transport. Ignore Mach effect.

97

98

Given:

Find:
Solution
We are considering a low-speed flight condition so the terms related to M can be ignored.
Therefore the following can be ignored,

Then,

From before we proved for a propeller,

Therefore,
Also,

99

(ignoring Mach)

In order to use these coefficients in the equations of motion you must convert them to
dimensional form first. The dimensional derivatives are Xu, X, . The parameters for
dimensionalizing are,

Therefore the dimensional derivatives for STOL transport become,

100

101

Longitudinal Motion (Stick Fixed)

Lanchester discovered that all flight vehicles possess certain natural frequencies or motions
when disturbed from their equilibrium flight phugoid motion
MIT research established the relationship between aerodynamics, geometric and mass
characteristics of the aircraft and its dynamic stability.
We will examine the longitudinal motion of an aircraft disturbed from its equilibrium state
- Longitudinal differential equations will be solved analytically
- Learn the effects of changes in aerodynamics or configuration changes on the
aircrafts dynamic stability characteristics

Example

In a wind tunnel, a wing of mass m is suspended from a spring with constant k, movement
in the vertical direction only (no rotation). At rest, the wing is at zero angle of attack.
Derive the expression for the vertical position of the wing as a function of time t, if the
wing is pulled from its initial position and released.
Solution
Using Newtons second law by summing the forces in the z-direction results,
or,
The change in lift can be represented by,
Note:

for rotational

therefore, sub in

102

Therefore the differential equation becomes,

Aerodynamic damping coefficient is then,

Comparing this with the general second order homogenous equation,
Then undamped natural frequency can be expressed as,

Damping ratio then described as,

Assuming the motion follows a natural pattern,

The eigenvalues () can be found by substituting the above and its associated derivatives
into the equation of motion, shown to be,

or,

The general solution to the differential,

Over Damped Case
Therefore the solution to the differential equation

or,

103

Critically Damped Case

The general solution has the form,

The critically damped constant,

Hence this where damping ratio is derived and is defined as,
Under Damped Case

The eigenvalues are,

Where the imaginary part of the eigenvalue is the damped natural frequency,
The real part is the damping response,
The general solution

104

Root Locus Plot

Plotting the imaginary and real parts on a root locus a simple trigonometric relationship is
can be shown to be,

Magnitude

of

Type of Root

Time Response

<-1

Two positive real distinct roots

Exponentially growing motion

0>>-1

Complex roots with a positive real

Exponentially growing sinusoidal motion

Damping Ratio

part
=0

Complex roots with a real part 0

Undamped sinusoidal motion Pure Harmonic motion

0<<1

Complex roots with a real part

Underdamped exponentially decaying sinusoidal

negative

motion

=1

Two negative equal real roots

Critically damped exponentially decaying motion

>1

Two negative distinct real roots

Overdamped exponentially decaying motion

105

Pure Pitching Motion

Consider the case in which the airplanes center of gravity is constrained to move in a
straight line at a constant speed but the aircraft is free to pitch about its center of gravity.

The governing equations of motion can be found by using Newtons second law.

The pitching moment M and pitch angle can be expressed in terms of an initial reference
value indicated by a subscript, 0, and the perturbation by the symbol.

If the reference moment Mo is 0, then the above equation reduces to,

For restricted motion that we are examining, the variables are the angle of attack, pitch
angle, the time rate of change of these variables, and the elevator angle. The pitching
moment is not a function of the pitch angle but of the other variables and can be expressed
in functional form as follows:

106

Hence, this can be expressed in terms of a Taylor series,

If we align the body and fixed frames so they coincide at t=0, the change in angle of attack
and pitch angles are identical; that is,

This is true only for the special cases where the center of gravity is constrained. Then

Where,
etc.

Note this is a non-homogeneous second-order differential equation, having constant

coefficients. This equation is similar to a torsional spring-mass-damper system with a
forcing function. The static stability of the airplane can be thought of as the equivalent of
aerodynamic spring, while the aerodynamic damping terms are similar to a torsional
damping device. The characteristic equation of the above equation is,

This equation can be compared with the standard equation of a second-order system:

By inspection we see that the natural frequency is,

107

And the damping ratio is,

Note that the frequency is related to the airplanes static stability and that the damping ratio
is a function of the aerodynamic damping and static stability.
Solving the characteristic equation then the following roots are obtained,

This can then be expressed as,

Where,

damped natural frequency

governs the damping of the response
Therefore the general solution to the

for the step

change e in the elevator angle can be expressed as,

Where,
trim = Change in trim angle of attack =

108

 = Damping ratio = n = undamped natural frequency =

= phase angle=tan-1(

The solution is a damped sinusoidal motion with the frequency a function of Cm and the
damping ratio a function of
. The figure shows the angle of attack time
history of various value of the damping ratio . Note that as the system damping is
increased the maximum overshoot of the response diminishes.
The influence of stability coefficient on the roots of the characteristic equation can be seen
below. The curves show the effect of variations in
and
on the roots. This
type of curve is referred to as a root locus plot. Notice that as the roots move into the right
half plane the vehicle will become unstable.

109

The roots of the characteristic equation tell us what type of response our airplane will have.
1. If the roots are real, the response will be either a
I. Positive roots, pure divergence
II. Negative roots, pure subsidence
2. If the roots are complex, the motion will be either a damped (-) or undamped (+)
sinusoidal oscillation.
I. Negative real part (<0) decaying oscillation
II. Positive real part (>0) growing oscillation

110

The period of oscillation is related to the imaginary part of the root as follows,

A measure of the rate of growth or decay of the oscillation can be obtained from the time
for halving or doubling the initial amplitude of the disturbance. The figure above shows
damped and undamped oscillations and how the time for halving or doubling the amplitude
can be calculated. The expression for the time for doubling or halving of the amplitude is,

Where the period can be expressed as,

and the number of cycles for doubling or halving the amplitude is,

111

Example
Find the damping ratio , the undamped natural frequency n, and the damped natural
frequency of the following differential equation.

Sol.
Standard second order differential equation is
System undamped natural frequency,
n2=36.1 /s2
n = 6 rad/s
and 2 n=1.38
=0.115
damped natural frequency =

=5.96 rad/s

Stick Fixed Longitudinal Motion

The motion of an aircraft in free flight needs extremely complicated simplifying
assumptions
-

Aircraft motion consists of small deviations from its equilibrium flight condition

Motion of aircraft can be analyzed by separating the equations into two groups(X,Z
force and pitching moment equations, Y force, rolling and yawing moment
equations)

Lets examine longitudinal motion of an aircraft without control input

Longitudinal motion of an aircraft disturbed from its equilibrium condition is characterized
by two oscillation modes of motion

112

Phugoid Motion (Long Period Motion)

The Phugoid motion is lightly damped motions with the periods are long. The potential
and kinetic energy are continually being exchanged depending on where the aircraft is in
the oscillation. In this scenario, the aircraft has constant angle of attack (), these periods
are usually in the order of 30 seconds or more. Using the root locus plot it can be shown
that the eigenvalues of this type of system is closer to the imaginary axis. The motion
results in significant changes in amplitude () and speed (u) but the pitch rate and angle of
attack do not change much.

Short Period Motion

Short period motion is heavily damped and the motion occurs at nearly constant speed with
varying angle of attack. The flight path is damped rapidly. Using the root locus, the
eigenvalues are far from the imaginary axis.

113

State Variable Representation of the Equations of Motion

The state space or state variable equation and representation is expressed,

x State vector
Control vector
The linearized longitudinal set of equations developed earlier are repeated here,

In practice, the force derivatives

are neglected because they contribute very little

to the aircraft response. Therefore in matrix form,

Where the state vector x and control vector are given by,

114

And the matrices A and B are given by,

where

115

Assuming the solution of the form

For a nontrivial solution to exist the determinate must be equal to zero,

r Eigenvalues

Example
Given the differential equations that follows,

Where x1 and x2 are the state variables and is the forcing input to the system:
a) Rewrite these equations in state space form; that is,
b) Find the free response eigenvalues.
c) What do these eigenvalues tell us about the response of this system?
Solution
a)
Isolate the highest order derivatives yields in matrix form,

Which is the state space formulation,

116

b)
The eigenvalues of the system can be determined by solving the equation,
Substituting the identity matrix and the A matrix results in,

Expanding the determinant yields the characteristic equation,

Then the characteristic equation can be solved using the quadratic equation, which yields,

c)
The complex eigenvalue shows two characteristics of the motion. The real part governs the
stability, positive being unstable. The complex part indicates that the motion will be
oscillatory. The time to double can be expressed as,

The period of the sinusoidal motion can be calculated via,

Given the second-order differential equation,

a)
b)
c)
d)

Rewrite this equation in the state space form:

Determine the eigenvalues of the A matrix
Find the natural frequency, damping ratio, and damped natural frequency
What do these eigenvalues tell us about the response of this system (stability, time
to half or double, period, number of cycles

a)
Letting q= the equation of motion can be written in the form,

117

b)
Assuming the motion will follow a natural motion via,
The characteristic equation can be determined to be,
Note: you can also find the characteristic equation using the state space
representation shown below,

Therefore the roots or the eigenvalues can be found using the quadratic formula, which
results in,
c)
The natural frequency can be found from the differential equation from the third term,

The damped natural frequency is determined from the imaginary part of the eigenvalue as
shown below,
Damping ratio can be found from either the differential or the real part of the eigenvalue,

d)
Since the real part is negative and has a imaginary part the system is stable with an
oscillation,
Half or double time can be determined via,

118

Rouths Criteria
The dynamic stability of an aircraft is governed by the real parts of the eigenvalues. Its
characteristic equation is of quartic form.
Rouths criterion is a simple method of determining the stability of the system without
solving for eigenvalues.
The general characteristic equation,

Note: if bo term is zero, divide by to obtain the equation in the above term
The bs are real coefficients and all powers of from n to 0 must be present in the
characteristic equation.
A necessary but not sufficient condition for stable roots
all coefficients be positive.
If any coefficients other than bo are zero, or if the coefficient do not all have the same sign.
- there are pure imaginary root with + real root unstable.
When all the coefficients are present and +ve
- the system may or may not be stable.
The coefficients of the characteristic equation are arranged in the pattern used to
evaluate the constants.

119

Routh Table

Where,

Continue until all cs and ds go to zero,

The system is stable if all the terms in the first column have same the sign
Aircraft equation of motion,

For stability
Rouths
A,B,D,E>0
Discriminate R=D(BC-AD)-B2E>0

120

E and R represent significant critical cases

E=0 define boundaries (+ve to ve) between static stability and instability
R=0 define boundaries between stability and divergent oscillation
If E,R > 0, there are no unstable modes

Longitudinal Approximations
Long-Period Mode (Phugoid Mode)
Long period or phugoid motion is a continually exchange of potential and kinetic energy.
Here we see that the long-period mode is characterized by changes in pitch attitude, altitude,
and velocity at a nearly constant angle of attack. An approximation to the long-period
mode can be obtained by neglecting the pitching moment equation and assuming that
the change in angle of attack is 0, that is,

Using this assumption the homogenous longitudinal state reduces to,

The eigenvalues of the approximated phugoid motion can be found via,

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Expanding the determinate results in,

The roots then become,

Frequency can be expressed as,

Damping ratio,

We can further simplify the natural frequency and damping ratio by neglecting
compressibility (i.e. subsonic, low speed),

Where,

Therefore,

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Recall that for a steady horizontal flight (assuming that is small),

Then the change in z-force with respect to speed can be written as,

The frequency can be expressed as,

The damping ratio can be further simplified via,

The derivative for change in x-force due to change in forward speed,

Back to the original definition,

Therefore damping ratio,

A couple of notes on the above approximated equations, the frequency of oscillation and
damping ratio are inversely proportional to forward speed and the lift-to-drag ratio.
Therefore, phugoid damping degrades as the aerodynamic efficiency (L/D) increases. To
improve the damping of the phugoid motion, the designer would have to reduce the lift-todrag ratio of the airplane. Because this would degrade the performance of the aircraft, the
designer would look for alternatives, such as an automatic stabilization sys to provide the
proper damping characteristics.

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Short-Period Approximation
An approximation to the short-period mode of motion can be obtained by assuming u=0
and dropping the X-force equation. The longitudinal state-space equation reduces to the
following,

This equation can be written in terms of angle of attack by using the relationship,

Furthermore, one can replace the derivatives due to w and with derivatives due to
by using the following equations. The definition of the derivative M is,

In similar way we can show that,

Using these expressions, the state equations for the short-period approximation can be
rewritten as,

The eigenvalues of the state equation can again be determined by solving the equation,

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Yielding,

The characteristic equation is,

The approximation short period roots can be obtained easily from the characteristic
equation and then can be expressed in terms of damping and frequency,

125

126

127

128

129

Influence of Stability Derivatives

The type of response we obtain from solving the differential equations of motion depends
on the magnitude of the stability coefficients. This easily can be seen by examining the
expressions for the damping ratio and frequency of the long and short period
approximations.
Of the two characteristic modes, the short-period mode is more important. If this mode has
a high frequency and is heavily damped, then the airplane will respond rapidly to an
elevator input without any undesirable overshoot. When the short-period mode is lightly
damped or has a relatively low frequency, the airplane will be difficult to control and in
some cases may even be dangerous to fly.
The figures below show the effects of varying the center of gravity position and the
horizontal tail area size on the long and short-period responses. As the center of gravity
is moved rearward the longitudinal modes become aperiodic and eventually, unstable.
From a performance standpoint, it would be desirable to move the center of gravity further
aft so that trim drags during the cruise position of the flight could be reduced.
Unfortunately, this leads to a less stable airplane. By using an active control stability
augmentation system, the requirement of static stability can be relaxed without degrading
the airplanes flying qualities (report fuel savings of 3 to 4 percent).

130

Root Locus
Moving CG rearward

Increase Tail Area

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Lateral Motion (Stick Fixed)

Directional Divergence
Directional divergence can occur when the airplane lacks directional stability. If disturbed
from its equilibrium state such an airplane will tend to rotate to ever-increasing angles of
sideslip. Owing to the side force acting on the airplane, it will fly a curved path at large
sideslip angles. For an airplane that has lateral static stability (i.e dihedral effect) the
motion can occur with no significant change in bank angle. Obviously, such a motion
cannot be tolerated and requires an appropriate tail design.
Spiral Divergence
Spiral motion is a non-oscillatory divergent motion that can occur when directional stability
is large and lateral stability is small. When disturbed from equilibrium, the airplane enters
a gradual spiraling motion. The spiral becomes tighter and steeper as time proceeds and
can result in a high speed spiral dive if correction action is not taken.
Consists mainly of yawing at nearly zero sideslip with some rolling
Aerodynamic forces in this mode are very small
Flight path, long smooth return to reference flight
Rolling Convergence

Almost pure rotation motion around the x-axis

Significant aerodynamic variables are and p

Lateral Oscillation (Dutch Roll)

The Dutch roll oscillation is coupled lateral-directional oscillation that can be quite
objectionable to pilots and passengers. The motion is characterized by a combination of
rolling and yawing oscillations that have the same frequency but are out of phase with each
other. The period can be on the order of 3 to 15 seconds, so that if the amplitude is
appreciable the motion can be very annoying.
Motion consist mainly yawing and rolling

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Pure Rolling Motion

A wind-tunnel model free to roll about its x axis is shown below. The equation of motion
for this example of a pure rolling motion is,

or,

- Rolling moment due to aileron deflection

- Roll damping moment
The rolling angle is the angle between zb of the body axis and zf of the fixed axis system.
The rolling rate p is equal to

, which will allows us to rewrite the above equation as

follows.

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Where,

- is the time constant

The time constant tells us how fast our system approaches a new steady-state condition
after being disturbed. If the time constant is small, the system will respond very rapidly; if
the time constant is large, the system will respond very slowly. The solution to the above
equation for a step change in the aileron angle is,

Recall that Cl p is negative; therefore the time constant will be positive. The rate time
history for this example will be similar to that shown below. The steady-state roll rate can
be obtained from the above equation, by assuming that time t is large enough that e-t / is

essentially 0. Note: when

pss =
pss =

L a
Lp

=t then we will reach 63% of the steady state

Cl QSb /Ix
a

Cl p (b /2u0 )QSb /Ix

Cl
pssb
= a a
2u0
Cl p

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The term (pssb/2uo) for full aileron deflection can be used for sizing the aileron. The
minimum requirement for this ratio is a function of the class of airplane under consideration.
Cargo or transport airplanes: pb/2uo=0.07
Fighter planes:
pb/2uo=0.09

Example
Calculate the roll response of the F104A to a 5o step change in aileron deflection. Assume
the airplane is flying at sea level with a velocity of 87m/s. The F104A has the following
aerodynamic and geometric characteristics:

Solution

135

Example
Find the aerodynamics stability coefficients Cla and Clp using the following graph.
Assume an aileron deflection of 5o, S=18 m2, b=6.7 m and a forward velocity of uo=87 m/s.

136

Pure Yawing Moment

We constrain our model to just yawing motion. Therefore the equations of motion can be
expressed as,

The yawing moment N and the yawing angle can be expressed as,
N = N0 +N, = 0 +
Therefore the yawing moment reduces to,

Where,

Because the center of gravity is constrained, the yawing angle and the sideslip angle
are related by the expression,

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Substituting these relationships into the yawing moment equation results in,

Where,

The characteristic equation can then be expressed as,

Therefore, the damping ratio and natural frequency can be written as,

For a step change in the rudder control will result in a damped sinusoidal motion, provided
the airplane has sufficient aerodynamic damping.
Note: The natural frequency is a function of the aircrafts static stability (directional
stability) and the damping ratio is a function of the aerodynamic damping derivative Nr.

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Lateral-Directional Equations of Motion

The lateral-directional equations of motion consist of the side force, rolling moment, and
yawing moment equations of motion. We can rearrange the lateral equation in to statespace form as follows.

Using the relationship

The characteristic equation is obtained by expanding the following determinate.

Then the characteristic equation can be expressed as,

The eigenvalues will result in two real roots and one pair of complex roots
In general, the roots to the lateral-directional characteristic equation consists of
- 2 real roots
- Pair of complex roots
Two real roots
- A slowly convergent or divergent motion: spiral mode
- A highly convergent motion: rolling motion
One pair of complex roots
- A lightly damped oscillatory motion having a low frequency: Dutch roll
mode(combination of yawing and rolling motion)

139

Roll Motion
Rolling motion is highly damped and will reach a steady-state in a very short time

Tendency of roll rate become constant roll damping(roll moment become zero)
Dutch roll motion
Strong lateral stability due to dihedral and weal directional stability(Worse at high altitude
due to thin air)

140

Spiral Approximations

For spiral divergence, the divergence aircraft angle increases slowly which causes the
sideslip angle to increase the aircraft flies in a tighter and tighter spiral.
In the figure above we can see that the tendency for the roll rate becomes constant, hence
roll damping (roll moment becomes zero)
As indicated in the figure above the spiral mode is characterized by changes in the bank
angle and the heading angle . The sideslip angle usually is quite small but cannot be
neglected because the aerodynamic moments do not depend on the roll angle or the
heading angle but on sideslip angle , roll rate p, and yawing rate r.
The aerodynamic contributions due to and r usually are on the same order of magnitude.
Therefore, to obtain approximation of the spiral mode we shall neglect the side force
equation and . Therefore the equations of motion can be approximated by,

Therefore the characteristic equation can be shown to be,

The stability derivatives L (dihedral effect) and Nr (yaw rate damping) usually are negative
quantities. On the other hand, N (directional stability) and Lr (rolling moment due to yaw
rate) generally are positive quantities. If the derivatives have usual sign, then the condition
for stable spiral model is,

141

Increasing the magnitude of dihedral effect L or the yawing damping(Nr) or both can make
the spiral mode stable.
Rolling Approximations- only consider the p term
This motion can be approximated by the single degree of freedom rolling motion, which
was analyzed earlier in the chapter,

- rolling time constant

Therefore,

Lp rolling damping

142

Dutch Roll Motions

Strong lateral stability and weak directional stability

This motion has oscillation therefore the eigenvalues should have an imaginary part
If we consider the Dutch roll mode to consist primarily of sideslipping and yawing motions,
then we can neglect the rolling moment equation.

Therefore the characteristic equation is,

From this expression we can determine the undamped

143

The approximations developed in this section give, at best, only a rough estimate of the
spiral and Dutch roll modes. The approximate formulas should therefore, be used with
caution. The reason for the poor agreement between the approximation and exact solution
is that the Dutch roll motion is truly a three degree of freedom motion with strong coupling
between equations.
Example
Find the lateral eigenvalues of the general aviation airplane used in longitudinal motion
question. Also, compare the exact solutions with approximation solution.

144

145

146

147

Example
Suppose an airplane is constrained to pure yawing motion. Using data for a general
aviation airplane provided below find the following:
a) The yawing moment equation rewritten in state-space form
b) The characteristic equation and eigenvalues for the system
c) The damping ratio , and undamped natural frequency, n.
d) The response of the airplanes to a 5o rudder input. Assume initial conditions are
(0)=0, r(0)=0
Given data:

Example
Consider a model in a wind tunnel shown below. It is constrained to a pure yawing motion.
The model is displaced from its trim position by 10o and then released. Neglect the
fuselage and contribution, S=D2/4, =1,
a) Find the time for the motion to damp to half its initial amplitude
b) What is the period of the motion (P)

148

Aircraft Response to Control

We used two types of input function
- Step change
- Sinusoidal signal
Arbitrary input function can be represented by a series of step changes or a series of
sinusoidal input.
If we know the response of a linear system to either a step or sinusoidal input, then we can
construct the systems response to an arbitrary input by the principle of superposition.
For aircraft response to control
The response of the system

Frequency response

Use Laplace variable s by i

Factored from transfer function ->

For longitudinal control transfer (

; A.... Aircraft's stability derivatives

Can be written in the factored form

The magnitude and phase angle for the control transfer function is obtained by s by i

149

Frequency response for the pitch attitude to control deflection

Low frequency peak = long period

High frequency peak = short period
At very high frequency: elevator has a negligible effect on the pitch attitude
Equations of motion in a nonuniform atmosphere
The aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the aircraft depend on the relative motion
of aircraft to the atmosphere and not on the inertial velocities.
Previous equations of motion were developed for flight in a stationary atmosphere.
The atmosphere rarely is calm but usually is characterized by winds, gusts, and turbulence.
Equations of motion must be modified.
This is accomplished by expressing the velocities used in calculating the aerodynamics in
term of the inertial and gust velocity.

Where quantities are the perturbations in the inertial variables. The rotational gust
arises from the variation of
with position and time. The rotary
gusts

occur due to the spatial variations of the gust component.

150

Gust creating an effective rolling gust

The linear variation of velocity across the span is the same as that produced on a rolling
wing.
The velocity normal to the wing at some point along the span
or
Using this analogy, the rotary gust velocity in terms of the gradient in the vertical gust field

In a similar way, the variation of the vertical gust velocity along the x-axis of the aircraft

151

or

The equations of motion is modified to account for atmospheric disturbances

Lateral equation

The longitudinal and lateral gust transfer functions can be determined by taking the Laplace
transform of above equations and then dividing by the gust function.

152

To provide some insight into the influence of atmospheric disturbances on aircraft response,
Lets examine the vertical motion of an aircraft that encounters a vertical gust fields.
Pure vertical or plunge motion
Consider an aircraft constrained so that movement is possible only in the vertical direction.

Lets examine the response of this constrained aircraft subjected to an external disturbance
such as a wind gust. The equation of motion

Where Z is the aerodynamic force in the Z direction

W is the aircraft weight
If we assume the motion of the aircraft will be confined to small perturbations from an
initial unaccelerated flight condition, then the aerodynamic force and vertical velocity can
be

153

Then

We can simplify above by recognizing that in unaccelerated flight

Then
The aerodynamic force acting on the aircraft is a function of the

or

where
To simplify our analysis, we assume that the lag in lift term,
comparison to the
term
The change in

After substitution

becomes

or

154

is negligible in

This is a first-order differential equation with constant coefficient.

where
The solution to above equation for a sharp edged or sinusoidal gust will now be examined.
Following figure shows an airplane encountering a sharp-edged or step gust and a
sinusoidal gust profile. Below figure shows the construction of an arbitrary gust profile as a
series of step changes.

155

Also, in the case of an arbitrary-periodic gust function the profile can be decomposed of an
airplane to an encounter with a sharp-edged gust can be modeled by expressing the gust
profile as a step function:

Where u(t) is a unit step change and Ag is the magnitude of the gust. The solution to above
equation for a step input can be obtained by taking the Laplace transformation of the
differential equation

Or solving for the ratio of the output to input yields

which is the transfer function if the change in vertical velocity to the vertical gust input.
When the forcing function or input is a step change in the gust velocity,

Expanding and taking the inverse Laplace transformation yields

The vertical velocity of the airplane grows exponentially from 0 to final value of Ag. The
initial slope of the curve at t = 0 is given by the derivative

156

or

The parameter is referred to as the time constant of the system.

157

Flight Control Design Technology

Classical Control Techniques
The control approaches that have their roots in late 1930s are categorized as classical.
These approaches are based in frequency response methods, the root locus technique,
transfer functions, and Laplace transforms. A major feature of these analysis methods is
their adaptability to simple graphical procedures, which was particularly important during
this time period because computer were not available. Analysis techniques have to be
suitable for calculations made without computers. Those tools, based upon the work of
Bode, Nyquist, and Evans, form the foundation of classical control theory.
Application to Automatic Flight Control
Flight control to reduce pilot workload(autopilot)
The slow modes(phugoid and spiral) are controlled by a pilot. It is undesirable for a pilot to
pay continuous attention to controlling these modes, an automatic control system is needed
to provide pilot relief. Such a control system is called autopilot.
- Pitch control hold
- Altitude hold
- Bank angle hold
- Turn coordination
- Heading hold
Landing aid
-

Glide slope control

Localizer to align the aircraft in the lateral direction with the runway centerline
Flare control to make transition from the glide slope to the runway

158

Stability augmentation provides proper stability and ensures appropriate handling qualities
-

Roll damper
Pitch damper
Yaw damper

Control augmentation to control the mode and to provide the pilot with a particular type of
response to the control inputs
-

Roll rate

Pitch rate
Normal acceleration

Modern Control Techniques

Limitation of classical control
The essence of classical design is successive loop closure technique. Such a one-loop-at-atime design approach becomes increasingly difficult as more loops are added and do not
guarantee success when the dynamics are multivariable.
Modern control techniques
-

The design is directly based on the state-variable model

The expression of performance specifications in terms of a mathematically precise
performance criterion yields matrix equations for the control gains. Solving matrix
equation allows all the control gains to be computed simultaneously
The modern control formulation means that the trial and error of classical design
disappears. Instead, the fundamental engineering decision is the selection of a
suitable performance criterion.

159