WINGSSS COLLEGE OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

8.4 FLIGHT STABILITY AND DYNAMICS

REF.DOC:-Module 08 AERODYNAMICS, MECHANICS OF FLIGHT, FAA 9A, 15A

Hours
Topic Level
Allotted
Longitudinal, lateral and directional stability
(active and passive) 2 10

 STATIC STABILITY:

As any vehicle moves it will be subjected to minor

changes in the forces that act on it, and in its speed.

 If such a change causes further changes that tend to restore the vehicle to its original speed and orientation,
without human or machine input, the vehicle is said to be statically stable. The aircraft has positive stability.
 If such a change causes further changes that tend to drive the vehicle away from its original speed and
orientation, the vehicle is said to be statically unstable. The aircraft has negative stability.
 If such a change causes no tendency for the vehicle to be restored to its original speed and orientation, and
no tendency for the vehicle to be driven away from its original speed and orientation, the vehicle is said to be
neutrally stable. The aircraft has zero stability.

For a vehicle to possess positive static stability it is not necessary for its speed and orientation to return to exactly the
speed and orientation that existed before the minor change that caused the upset. It is sufficient that the speed and
orientation do not continue to diverge but undergo at least a small change back towards the original speed and
orientation

 LONGITUDINAL STABILITY

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 WINGSSS COLLEGE OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

8.4 FLIGHT STABILITY AND DYNAMICS

REF.DOC:-Module 08 AERODYNAMICS, MECHANICS OF FLIGHT, FAA 9A, 15A

LONGITUDINAL DYNAMIC STABILITY  OF AN AIRCRAFT DETERMINES

WHETHER IT WILL BE ABLE TO RETURN TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION.

Longitudinal static stability is the stability of an aircraft in the longitudinal, or pitching, plane under steady-flight
conditions. This characteristic is important in determining whether a human pilot will be able to control the aircraft in
the longitudinal plane without requiring excessive attention or excessive strength.

The longitudinal stability of an aircraft refers to the aircraft's stability in the pitching plane - the plane which describes
the position of the aircraft's nose in relation to its tail and the horizon. (Other stability modes are directional
stability and lateral stability.)

If an aircraft is longitudinally stable, a small increase in angle of attack will cause the pitching moment on the aircraft to
change so that the angle of attack decreases. Similarly, a small decrease in angle of attack will cause the pitching
moment to change so that the angle of attack increases.

 LATERAL STABILITY (Rolling)

Stability about the airplane's longitudinal axis, which extends form nose to tail, is called lateral stability. This helps to
stabilize the lateral or rolling effect when one wing gets lower than the wing on the opposite side of the airplane. There
are four main design factors which make an airplane stable laterally - dihedral, keel effect, sweepback, and weight
distribution. It will be seen in later discussions that these factors also aid in producing yawing or directional stability.

The most common procedure for producing lateral stability is to build the wings with a dihedral angle varying from one
to three degrees. In other words, the wings on either side of the airplane join the fuselage to form a slight V or angle
called "dihedral," and this is measured by the angle made by each wing above a line parallel to the lateral axis.

The basis of rolling stability is, of course, the lateral balance of forces produced by the airplane's wings. Any
imbalance in lift results in a tendency for the airplane to roll about its longitudinal axis. Stated another way, dihedral
involves a balance of lift created by the wings' angle of attack on each side of the airplane's longitudinal axis.

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 WINGSSS COLLEGE OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

8.4 FLIGHT STABILITY AND DYNAMICS

REF.DOC:-Module 08 AERODYNAMICS, MECHANICS OF FLIGHT, FAA 9A, 15A

DIAHEDRAL FOR LATERAL STABILITY KEEL AREA FOR LATERAL STABILITY

If a momentary gust of wind forces one wing of the airplane to rise and the other to lower, the airplane will bank. When
the airplane is banked without turning, it tends to sideslip or slide downward toward the lowered wing. Since the wings
have dihedral, the air strikes the low wing at much greater angle of attack than the high wing. This increases the lift on
the low wing and decreases lift on the high wing, and tends to restore the airplane to its original lateral attitude (wings
level); that is, the angle of attack and lift on the two wings are again equal.

   The effect of dihedral, then, is to produce a rolling moment tending to return the airplane to a laterally balanced flight
condition when a sideslip occurs.

   The restoring force may move the low wing up too far, so that the opposite wing now goes down. If so, the process
will be repeated, decreasing with each lateral oscillation until a balance for wings level flight is finally reached.

   Conversely, excessive dihedral has an adverse effect on lateral maneuvering qualities. The airplane may be so
stable laterally that it resists any intentional rolling motion. For this reason, airplanes which require fast roll or banking
characteristics usually have less dihedral than those which are designed for less maneuverability.

   The contribution of sweepback to dihedral effect is important because of the nature of the contribution. In a sideslip
the wing into the wind is operating with an effective decrease in sweepback while the wing out of the wind is operating
with an effective increase in sweepback. The reader will recall that the swept wing is responsive only to the wind
component that is perpendicular to the wing's leading edge. Consequently, if the wing is operating at a positive lift
coefficient, the wing into the wind has an increase in lift, and the wing out of the wind has a decrease in lift. In this

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 WINGSSS COLLEGE OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

8.4 FLIGHT STABILITY AND DYNAMICS

REF.DOC:-Module 08 AERODYNAMICS, MECHANICS OF FLIGHT, FAA 9A, 15A

manner the swept back wing would contribute a positive dihedral effect and the swept forward wing would contribute a
negative dihedral effect.

   During flight, the side area of the airplane's fuselage and vertical fin react to the airflow in much the same manner as
the keel of a ship. That is, it exerts a steadying influence on the airplane laterally about the longitudinal axis.

  Such laterally stable airplanes are constructed so that the greater portion of the keel area is above and behind the
center of gravity Thus, when the airplane slips to one side, the combination of the airplane's weight and the pressure
of the airflow against the upper portion of the keel area (both acting about the CG) tends to roll the airplane back to
wings level flight. 

 DIRECTIONAL STABILITY
Directional stability is stability of a moving body or vehicle about an axis which is perpendicular to its direction of
motion. Stability of a vehicle concerns itself with the tendency of a vehicle to return to its original direction in relation to
the oncoming medium (water, air, road surface, etc.) when disturbed (rotated) away from that original direction. If a
vehicle is directionally stable, a restoring moment is produced which is in a direction opposite to the rotational
disturbance. This "pushes" the vehicle (in rotation) so as to return it to the original orientation, thus tending to keep the
vehicle oriented in the original direction.

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 WINGSSS COLLEGE OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

8.4 FLIGHT STABILITY AND DYNAMICS

REF.DOC:-Module 08 AERODYNAMICS, MECHANICS OF FLIGHT, FAA 9A, 15A

Directional stability is frequently called "weather vaning" because a directionally stable vehicle free to rotate about its
center of mass is similar to a weather vane rotating about its (vertical) pivot.

With the exception of spacecraft, vehicles generally have a recognizable front and rear and are designed so that the
front points more or less in the direction of motion. Without this stability, they may tumble end over end, spin or orient
themselves at a high angle of attack, even broadside on to the direction of motion. At high angles of
attack, drag forces may become excessive, the vehicle may be impossible to control, or may even experience
structural failure. In general, land, sea, air and underwater vehicles are designed to have a natural tendency to point in
the direction of motion.

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REVISION NO: 00
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REVISION DATE : 00
DATE OF ISSUE :28/8/2020

Prepared by Approved by
Harshal Birari S.S.Pandey