Flight dynamics –II Prof. E.G.

Tulapurkara
Stability and control

Chapter 3
Lecture 13
Longitudinal stick–free static stability and control – 2
Topics
3.3.4 Shift in neutral point by freeing the stick
Example 3.1
Example 3.2
3.4 Stick force and stick force gradient
3.4.1 Dependence of stick force on flight velocity and airplane size
3.4.3 Tab deflection for zero stick force

3.3.4 Shift in neutral point by freeing the stick

The shift in neutral point by freeing the stick is given by :
'
xNP xNP C dε
- = (1 - f) Lαt VH η(1 - ) (3.16)
c c CLαw dα
Example 3.1
Obtain the shift in the neutral point for the airplane in example 2.4. The
values of some of the parameters are: VH = 0.738, η = 0.9, CLαw = 4.17 rad-1,
CLαt = 3.43 rad-1, dε/dα = 0.438. Assume  = 0.5, Chδe = - 0.005 deg-1,
Chαt = - 0.003 deg-1. Substituting various values in Eq.(3.16) yields:
-0.003
f = 1- 0.5( ) = 1- 0.3 = 0.7 and
-0.005
'
xNP xNP 3.43
- = (1 - 0.7)× × 0.738× 0.9 (1 - 0.438) = 0.0921
c c 4.17
Remarks:
i) In this case, by freeing the stick, the neutral point has shifted forward by
0.0921 c or the static margin has decreased by 0.0921. In other words
Cmα - Cmα = - 0.0921CLα

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Flight dynamics –II Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Stability and control
Chαt
ii) If Chαt is positive and Chδe is negative then (1-  ) can become more that
Chδe
one and stability will increase on freeing the stick. It is explained in
subsection 3.4.4 that for proper variation of stick force gradient, Chδe should have
a small negative value. Control of Chαt within narrow limits is difficult and
generally Chαt and Chδe have small negative values.

Example 3.2
An airplane has the following characteristics.
CLαw = 0.085 deg-1, CLαt = 0.058 deg-1, dCL/dδe = 0.032, Chαt = -0.003 deg-1,Chδt =
-0.0055, iw = 0, α0L = -20 , it = -10, ε = 0.5 α, St = 0.25 S, lt = 3 c , W/S =1500 N/m2 ,
a.c. location = 0.25 c , η = 1.0, (Cmα)f,n,p = 0.37 rad-1.
Obtain
i) Stick-fixed neutral point
ii) Stick-free neutral point
iii) Stick -free neutral point when Chαt is changed to 0.003.
Solution:
The given data is:
CLαw = 0.085, CLαt = 0.058, dCLt /dδe = 0.032
Chδe = - 0.0055,Chαt = -0.003
iw = 0, α0L = - 20 ,it = - 10 , ε = 0.5 α,

St = 0.25S, lt = 3 c, a.c. at 0.25 c,

η = 1.0, (Cmα )f,n,p = 0.37 rad-1

CLαw = 0.085 deg-1 = 4.87rad-1
CLαt = 0.058 deg-1 = 3.323 rad-1

dε S l
= 0.5, VH = t t = 0.25×3 = 0.75
dα S c
 = CLδe / CLαt = 0.032 / 0.058 = 0.552
(i) Stick-fixed neutral point:

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Flight dynamics –II Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Stability and control
xNP x ac 1 C dε
= - (Cmα )f,n,p + η VH Lαt (1 - )
c c CLαw CLαw dα
1 3.323
= 0.25 - ×0.37+ 1.0 × 0.75 × (1 - 0.5)
4.87 4.87
= 0.25 - 0.0759 + 0.256 = 0.4301
(ii) Stick-free neutral point:
xNP xac 1 C dε C
= - (Cmα )f,n,p + η VH Lαt (1- )(1- hαt )
c c CLαw CLαw dα Chδe

-0.003
= 0.25 - 0.0759 + 0.256 {1- 0.552 ( )}
-0.0055
= 0.25 - 0.759 + 0.181 = 0.355
(iii) Stick-free neutral point when Chαt = 0.003
x'NP 0.003
= 0.25 - 0.0759 + 0.256 {1-0.552 ( )}
c -0.0055
= 0.25 - 0.0759 + 0.331 = 0.5051
3.4 Stick force and stick force gradient
Figure 3.1 shows the schematic of the control surface, the control stick,
the hinge moment (He) due to pressure distribution and the stick force (F). As
mentioned earlier, a nose up hinge moment is taken as positive. The convention
for the stick force is that a pull force at the stick is taken as positive.
The relation between F and He is given by :
1 2
F = GHe = G ρV η Se c e Che (3.17)
2
where, G is the gearing ratio. It may be pointed out that G is not dimensionless; it
has the dimension of m-1.
Recall that:
Che = Chαt αt + Chδe δe + Chδt δt (3.4)

CL dε
αt = α0Lw + it - iw + (1- ) ; CL  CLW (2.44)
CLαw dα
dCm 1
( )stick-fix = (Cmα )stick-fix (2.71)
dCL CLαw

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Flight dynamics –II Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Stability and control
1 dCm
δtrim = δe0CL - ( )stick-fix CL (2.84)
Cmδe dCL
Substituting from Eqs.(2.44),(2.71)and (2.84) in Eq.(3.4) yields :
CL dε C dCm
Che =Chαt {α0Lw + it -iw + (1- )}+ Chδt δt + Chδe δe0CL - hδe ( )stick-fixCL (3.19)
CLαw dα Cmδe dCL
Rearranging yields:
Chδe dC
Che = [Chαt (α0Lw + it - iw )+ Chδe δe0CL ] + Chδt δt - CL [( m )stick-fix
Cmδe dCL
Cmδe Chαt dε
- (1- )] (3.20)
Chδe CLαw dα

Substituting Cmδe = -VH ηt CLαt  , gives :

dCm C C dε
( )stick-fix - mδe hαt (1- )
dCL Chδe CLαw dα
dCm C 1 dε
=( )stick-fix + VH ηt CLαt  hαt (1- ) (3.21)
dCL Chδe CLαw dα
dCm
From Eq.(3.14a) the r.h.s of Eq.(3.21) is ( )stick-free
dCL
Substituting from Eq.(3.21) in Eq.(3.20) gives:
Chδe dC
Che = A + Chδt δt - CL ( m )stick-free (3.22)
Cmδe dCL

where, A = Chαt (α0Lw + it - iw ) + Chδe δe0CL (3.23)

W
Substituting, from Eq.(3.22) in Eq.(3.17) and noting CL = , yields :
1 2
ρV S
2
1 C W dC
F=G ρ V 2 η Se c e {A + Chδt δt - hδe ( m )stick-free }
2 Cmδe 1 ρV 2S dCL
2
1 W Chδe dCm
Or F = K ρV 2 {A + Chδt δt } - K ( )stick-free (3.24)
2 S Cmδe dCL

where, K = G η Se c e (3.25)

F C dC 1
Or = G η Se c e {A + Chδt δt - hδe CL ( m )stick-free }; q = ρ V 2 (3.26)
q Cmδe dCL 2

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Flight dynamics –II Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Stability and control

d( F ) C dC
q
Hence, = - GηSe c e hδe ( m )stick-free (3.27)
dCL Cmδe dCL

3.4.1 Dependence of stick force on flight velocity and airplane size

The first term in Eq.(3.24) depends on V2 and hence, the stick force
increases rapidly with flight speed. The constant K in Eq. (3.24) involves the
product Se c e in it. The quantities c e and Se are roughly proportional to the linear

dimension of the airplane and its square respectively. Thus, the product Se c e is

proportional to the cube of the linear dimension of the airplane. Hence, the
control force which depends on Se c e could be very large for large airplanes.

Manual control is not possible in such cases (see section 6.12).

3.4.2 Tab deflection for zero stick force
In section 3.1 it was noted that the stick force can be made zero by proper
tab deflection. An expression for this deflection is obtained below.
Consider the second term in Eq.(3.24). Noting that (a) Chδe is generally
negative (see section 3.4.4), (b) Cmδe is negative and (c) (dCm / dCL)stick-ree is
negative for a stable airplane, the second term in Eq.(3.24) is positive for a stable
airplane. Further, the first term in Eq.(3.24) depends on V and δt. Hence, at a
given V, the stick force can be reduced to zero by proper choice of δt (Fig.3.5).
The operation of making stick force zero by proper tab deflection, is called
trimming the stick. Equating r.h.s. of Eq.(3.24) to zero yields (δt)trim for chosen
Vtrim i.e.
1 W Chδe dCm
0=K ρ Vtrim
2
{A + Chδt (δt )trim } - K ( )stick-free
2 S Cmδe dCL

W
1 Chδe S ( dCm )
Or (δt )trim =- {A - stick-free } (3.28)
Chδt 1
Cmδe ρV 2 dCL
trim
2
Differentiating Eq.(3.28) with CL yields :

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Flight dynamics –II Prof. E.G. Tulapurkara
Stability and control
d(δt )trim Chδe 1 dCm
= ( )stick-free (3.29)
dCL Chδt Cmδe dCL
Substituting δtrim from Eq.(3.28) in Eq.(3.24) , the stick force becomes:
W Chδe dCm V2
F=K ( )stick-free ( 2 -1) (3.30)
S Cmδe dCL Vtrim

Fig.3.5 Variation of stick force with velocity for different tab deflections-schematic

3.4.3 Stick force gradient

The stick force gradient is defined as dF/dV. Differentiating Eq.(3.30) with
V gives:
dF W Chδe dCm V
= 2K ( )stick-free 2 (3.31)
dV S Cmδe dCL Vtrim

dF
When V = Vtrim, the stick force gradient, ( )trim , is :
dV
dF W Chδe dCm 1
( )trim = 2K ( )stick-free (3.32)
dV S Cmδe dCL Vtrim
Figure 3.5 shows the variation of the stick force with V and the gradient (dF/dV)
at V = Vtrim. See example 3.3.

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