AAE 354

Lesson 02-5

Flight Dynamics

Neutral Point
 Total Pitching Moment
𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔 ቁ = 𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔 ቁ + 𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔 ቁ + 𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔 ቁ + 𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔 ቁ +⋯
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝛼 = 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝛼 + 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝛼 + 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝛼

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙

𝐶𝑚0 ൯ = 𝐶𝑚0𝑤 + 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚0𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 + ⋯

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓 𝑡

𝐶𝑚𝛼 ൯ = 𝐶𝑚𝛼𝑤 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 + ⋯

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓 𝑡

𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔 𝐶𝑚𝑐𝑔
𝐶𝑚𝛼 > 0

𝐶𝑚𝛼 = 0
𝐶𝑚𝛼 < 0

𝛼
𝛼
 Recap
𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐
𝐶𝑚0𝑤 = 𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑤 + 𝐶𝐿0𝑤 −
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ
𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐
𝐶𝑚𝛼𝑤 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 −
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ

𝐶𝑚0 = 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 𝜖0 + 𝑖𝑤 − 𝑖𝑡

𝑡 𝑡

𝑑𝜀
𝐶𝑚𝛼 = −𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1−
𝑡 𝑡 𝑑𝛼
 Total Pitching Moment
𝑪𝒎𝟎 ൯ = 𝑪𝒎𝟎𝒘 + 𝑪𝒎𝟎 + 𝑪𝒎𝟎𝒕
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇

𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐
𝐶𝑚0 = 𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑤 + 𝐶𝐿0𝑤 − + 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 𝜖0 + 𝑖𝑤 − 𝑖𝑡
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝑓 𝑡

𝑪𝒎𝜶 ൯ = 𝑪𝒎𝜶𝒘 + 𝑪𝒎𝜶 + 𝑪𝒎𝜶𝒕

𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇

𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝑑𝜀
𝐶𝑚𝛼 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 − + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 − 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1 −
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝑓 𝑡 𝑑𝛼
Total Effects
 Movement of CG

Longitudinal static stability depends strongly on the location of cg

 Stick-Fixed Neutral Point
• Let 𝑵𝒑 denote the cg location when

𝒅𝑪𝒎
= 0 𝑜𝑟 𝑪𝒎𝜶 = 𝟎
𝒅𝑪𝑳

or where the airplane becomes neutrally stable

• 𝑵𝒑 is called the stick-fixed neutral point
• Stick-fixed implies that elevator was held fixed
during angle of attack disturbance
Influence of CG
 Stick-Fixed Neutral Point

Setting 𝐶𝑚𝛼 equal to zero and solving for the center of

gravity position yields:
𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝑑𝜀
𝐶𝑚𝛼 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 − + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 − 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1 −
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝑓 𝑡 𝑑𝛼

𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑁𝑝 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝑑𝜀
𝟎 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 − + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 − 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1 −
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝑓 𝑡 𝑑𝛼

𝒙𝑵𝒑 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝐶𝑚𝛼𝑓 𝐶𝐿𝛼

𝑡
𝑑𝜀
= − + 𝜂𝑉𝐻 1−
𝒄ത 𝑐ҧ 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑑𝛼
 Static Margin
𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝑑𝜀
𝐶𝑚𝛼 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 − + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 − 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1 −
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝑓 𝑡 𝑑𝛼

𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝐶𝐿𝛼 𝑑𝜀

𝑓 𝑡
= − + − 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1−
𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑡 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑑𝛼
𝑥𝑐𝑔 𝑥𝑎𝑐 𝐶𝑚𝛼𝑓 𝐶𝐿𝛼
𝑡
𝑑𝜀
= − − + 𝜂𝑉𝐻 𝐶𝐿𝛼 1−
𝑐ҧ 𝑐ҧ 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑡 𝐶
𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑑𝛼

𝑥 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝐶𝐿𝛼 𝑑𝜀 𝑥𝑁𝑝

But 𝑎𝑐 𝑓 𝑡
− + 𝜂𝑉𝐻 1− =
𝑐ҧ 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝐶𝐿𝛼𝑤 𝑑𝛼 𝑐ҧ

𝑪𝒎𝜶 𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝒙𝑵𝒑 𝒙𝑵𝒑 𝒙𝒄𝒈

∴ = − − = 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏
𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 𝒄ത 𝒄ത 𝒄ത 𝒄ത
= − 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏
 Static Margin

𝑪𝒎𝜶 𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝒙𝑵𝒑

= −
𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 𝒄ത 𝒄ത

𝒙𝑵𝒑 𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝑪𝒎𝜶 𝒅𝑪𝒎

− = 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏 = − =−
𝒄ത 𝒄ത 𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 𝒅𝑪𝑳

For most aircraft designs, it is desirable to have a stick-fixed static margin

between 5% and 15% of the mean aerodynamic chord
 Aircraft Aerodynamic Center
𝑪𝒎𝜶 𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝒙𝑵𝒑
= −
𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 𝒄ത 𝒄ത

𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝒙𝑵𝒑
𝑪𝒎𝜶 = 𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 −
𝒄ത 𝒄ത

𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝒙𝒂𝒄
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ: 𝑪𝒎𝜶𝒘 = 𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 −
𝒄ത 𝒄ത

Neutral point is in essence the aerodynamic center of the entire aircraft

Aircraft Aerodynamic Center

𝑪𝒎𝟎
CG Limits
Weight & Balance
Weight & Balance
 Example (Nelson 2.1)
If the slope of the 𝑪𝒎 versus 𝑪𝑳 curve is -0.15 and the pitching moment at zero lift is
equal to 0.08, determine the trim lift coefficient. If the center of gravity of the
airplane is located at 𝑋𝑐𝑔 Τ𝑐ҧ = 0.3, determine the stick fixed neutral point.
 𝑑𝐶𝑚 𝑑𝐶𝑚
𝐶𝑚 = 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝑚𝛼 𝛼𝑤 = 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝐿𝛼 𝛼𝑤 = 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝐿
𝑑𝐶𝐿 𝑑𝐶𝐿

𝑑𝐶𝑚
𝐶𝑚 = 𝐶𝑚0 + 𝐶𝐿
𝑑𝐶𝐿

0 = 0.08 − 0.15 𝐶𝐿𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑚

−0.08
𝐶𝐿𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑚 = = 0.53
−0.15
𝒙𝑵𝒑 𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝑪𝒎𝜶 𝒅𝑪𝒎
− = 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏 = − =−
𝒄ത 𝒄ത 𝑪𝑳𝜶𝒘 𝒅𝑪𝑳

𝒙𝑵𝒑 𝒙𝒄𝒈 𝒅𝑪𝒎

− =−
𝒄ത 𝒄ത 𝒅𝑪𝑳

𝑥𝑁𝑝
− 0.3 = 0.15
𝑐ҧ
𝑥𝑁𝑝
= 0.45
𝑐ҧ
 Example (Nelson 2.2)
For the data shown in Figure, determine the following:
(a) The stick-fixed neutral point.
(b) If we wish to fly the airplane at a velocity of 125 ft/sec at sea level, what would
be the trim lift coefficient and what would be the elevator angle for trim?