17ae73 As&c Module-2 Class

Learning objectives:
1. Understand the basics of aircraft stability and control, Longitudinal Stick Fixed
Stability
2. Understand the static longitudinal stick free stability and static directional stability.
3. Acquire the knowledge on lateral stability and longitudinal dynamic stability.
4. Understand concepts of Rigid Body equations of motions and Dynamic derivatives.
5. Understand Dynamic Lateral and Directional Stability and Cooper Harper Scale for
estimation of handling qualities
Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi. Approved By AICTE, New Delhi. Recognized by UGC with 2(f) & 12(B) status. Accredited by NBA and NAAC 1
Module -1
Static Longitudinal Stability and Control-Stick Fixed
Historical perspective, Aerodynamic Nomenclature, Equilibrium conditions, Definition of static stability, Definition
of longitudinal static stability, stability criteria, Contribution of airframe components: Wing contribution, Tail
contribution, Fuselage contribution, Power effects- Propeller airplane and Jet airplane Introduction, Trim condition.
Static margin. Stick fixed neutral points. Longitudinal control, Elevator power, Elevator angle versus equilibrium
lift coefficient, Elevator required for landing, Restriction on forward C.G. range.
Module -2
Static Longitudinal Stability- Control-Stick free & Static Directional Stability
Introduction, Hinge moment parameters, Control surface floating characteristics and aerodynamic balance,
Estimation of hinge moment parameters, The trim tabs, Stick-free Neutral point, Stick force gradient in
unaccelerated flight, Restriction on aft C.G. Introduction, Definition of directional stability, Static directional
stability rudder fixed, Contribution of airframe components, Directional control. Rudder power, Stick-free
directional stability, Requirements for directional control, Rudder lock, Dorsal fin. One engine inoperative
condition. Weather cocking effect.
Module -3
Static lateral dynamic & longitudinal stability and control
Introduction, definition of Roll stability. Estimation of dihedral effect., Effect of wing sweep, flaps, and power,
Lateral control, Estimation of lateral control power, Aileron control forces, Balancing the aileron. Coupling
between rolling and yawing moments. Adverse yaw effects. Aileron reversal. Definition of Dynamic longitudinal
stability. Types of modes of motion: longor phugoid motion, short period motion. Airplane Equations of
longitudinal motion.
Module -4
Estimation of Dynamic Derivatives
Derivation of rigid body equations of motion, Orientation and position of the airplane, gravitational and thrust
forces, Small disturbance theory. Aerodynamic force and moment representation, Derivatives due to change in
forward speed, Derivatives due to the pitching velocity, Derivatives due to the time rate of change of angle of
attack, Derivatives due to rolling rate, Derivatives due to yawing rate.
Module -5
Dynamic Lateral and Directional Stability
Routh’s criteria. Factors affecting period and damping of oscillations. Effect of wind shear. Flying qualities in
pitch. Cooper-Harper Scale. Response to aileron step-function, sideslip excursion. Dutch roll and Spiral
instability. Auto- rotation and spin. Stability derivatives for lateral and directional dynamics.
STATIC LONGITUDINAL STABILITY AND CONTROL STICK FREE
Previously it was pointed out that one of the ways that the static longitudinal stability of the airplane is felt by the pilot
is through the variation require of the elevator angle and there by the control position with change in airspeed.
dCm
This variation was demonstrated to be a function of the stability criterion, dCL with controls locked and is usually
referred to as the static longitudinal stability stick fixed.
A second way in which the pilot “feels” the static longitudinal stability of the airplane is through the Stick force
required to change the speed of the airplane from a given trim condition
The magnitude of the control force or stick force Fs required of the pilot to change the speed from any given trim
condition Fs  0 or cannot be related directly to the stability criterion dCm with elevator fixed, but can be
dC
shown to be closely related to a new criterion, dCm dC with control left free to float with
L
the wind.
L
This second type of static stability is referred to as stick free stability.
Affiliated to VTU Belagavi, Approved by AICTE, Recognized by UGC with 2(f) & 12(b), Accredited by NBA & NAAC
5
If the elevator is mounted on frictionless bearings, it will float with or against the wind depending on the pressure
distribution over the elevator.
This pressure distribution will create a moment about the control surface hinge referred to as hinge moment, causing the
elevator to rotate to some new floating angle, there by altering the stability contribution of the horizontal tail.
This Float of the elevator (moment ) is opposite to its deflection, and will be increasing in magnitude for increasing
deflection.
The float reduces the stability of the tail as it reduces the effective deflection.
Therefore stick free stability will be lesser in magnitude than the stick fixed stability
The hinge moment calculations are found to vary from experimental values and therefore, most hinge moment
estimations are carried out with experiments rather than from theoretical
Courtesy : Flight Stability & Automatic Control by Rob
C Nelson
6
Hinge moment parameters
The control surface in almost all cases is a plain flap making up the rear portion of an airfoil section.
The pressure distribution over this section, and therefore over the flap is governed by two major variables.
The first of these is the angle of attack of the airfoil, and the second is the deflection of the flap chord with respect to the
airfoil chord.
Changes in angle of attack and flap deflection alter the pressure distribution over the entire airfoil and consequently change
the magnitude of the flap hinge moment.
A typical pressure distribution over a horizontal tail at zero angle of attack but with varying elevator angles is as shown in
Fig:6-1
7
The suction created on the upper surface as the elevator is deflected downward can be represented as the reaction R, acting at
the centroid of the pressure area, creating the hinge moment, HM about the hinge lines.
For up elevator deflections, the picture is the same, but the suction will then be on the bottom surface.
The variation of the hinge moment with elevator deflection for zero angle of attack is shown in Fig. 6-2, showing that for the
plain flap of normal suction with the hinge at the nose radius, the slope of the hinge moment versus control surface deflection
will be negative under the assumption that a positive hinge moment tends to rotate the control surface trailing edge down.
8
As any airfoil section is given an increment in angle of attack, the pressure distribution over it changes rapidly with large
suction pressures appearing close to the leading edge of the section.
These distributions affect the pressure distribution over the whole section and therefore affect the control surface hinge
moments.
A typical variation of the pressure distribution with angle of attack is shown in figure 6-3.
9
The suction over the upper surface, which increases with angle of attack again creates a hinge moment which tends to
make the elevator Float up as the angle of attack is increased.
The variation of hinge moment with angle of attack for a plain flap of normal section with the hinge line at the nose radius
is shown in Fig. 6-4.
10
The magnitude of the hinge moment for any combination of angle of attack and control surface deflection is developed form
the complicated pressure distribution created by both the angle of attack and control surface deflection.
The total hinge moment HM, can be thought of as the addition of the two effect separately.
In other words, the hinge moment due to a control surface deflection of 5 degree at a 5 degree angle of attack is the sum of
the hinge moment due to a 5 degree deflection at zero angle of attack plus a 5 degree angle of attack at zero deflection.
Mathematically:
Under the assumption that the variation of hinge moment with angle of attack and deflection is linear,
11
The variation of the hinge moment with both control surface deflection and angle of attack represented by equation (6-2) is
shown as the family of curves in Fig. 6-5
It has been found convenient to non dimensionalize the hinge moment as done with lift, drag and pitching moment.
12
The hinge moment coefficient can be expressed in terms of partial derivatives as done in equation (6-2)
13
Control surface Floating characteristics and Aerodynamic Balance
One of the most important characteristics of any control surface is its so-called Floating characteristics.
If the control surface is mounted on frictionless bearings and the whole surface given an angle of attack, the hinge
moment developed for the unbalanced flap of Figure.(6-1) and (6-3) will tend to make the control float up.
This tendency is a function of the parameter Chα . However as soon as the control surface starts to float up, a new pressure
distribution due to the parameter Chδ is added which tends to prevent the elevator from floating up.
An equilibrium floating angle is reached when the “floating tendency”, C hα is just opposed by the “restoring tendency”, Chδ
The floating angle can be solved mathematically from equation (6-5) by equating Ch to zero and solving for the control
surface angle δ.
14
The control surface floating angle therefore varies with angle of attack and if Chα and Chδ both have negative signs , the
elevator will float up more and more with increasing angle of attack.
The rate that the elevator floats with angle of attack can be obtained by differentiating equation (6-7) with respect to α.
The floating characteristics of the control surface as well as the magnitude of the hinge moment coefficient depend on
Chα
the magnitudes of the parameters Chδ
and
On most control surface it is important to reduce the floating tendency to as near zero as possible. This means Chα should
be made to have a zero slope. At the same time Chδ must be made to have a low slope if the pilot is to be able to move
the control at all, especially for large, very fast airplanes.
15
Methods for controlling the parameters Chα and Chδ are therefore of prime interest and referred to as methods of
“Aerodynamic Balancing” control surface.
One of the most frequently used methods of aerodynamic balancing control surface is the Set-back Hinge.
16
With the hinge line at the nose radius, the summation of moments due to the pressure distribution will create a resultant
moment tending to raise the control surface.
However, as the hinge line is moved aft, the summation of the moments about the hinge line will yield a total moment
somewhat smaller, and finally if the hinge line is moved far enough Aft, the sign of the resultant moment can be reversed.
When the hinge line is moved far aft enough so that the resultant moment is reversed , the control surface is said to be
overbalanced.
The hinge moment parameters Chα and Chδ are therefore very sensitive to hinge line position, becoming more positive as
the hinge line is moved aft.
17
The Tab
The control surface tab is a small auxiliary flap usually built into the trailing edge portion of the control surface and
because of its location, can create very powerful moments about the control surface hinge line, for use as a trimming
device, a balancing device.
There are many types of tabs in use all serving different purposes, but all based on the fundamental ability of the tab to
develop large hinge moments about the control surface hinge line.
Some of the tabs are servo tabs, trim tabs and the balancing tabs. A typical tab installation is as shown
18
Deflecting the tab down will create a suction on the upper surface of the tab which creates a resultant upward force whose
arm to the main control hinge is so large tending to make the surface float up.
Deflecting the tab down then tends to make the control surface float up, and conversely deflecting the tab up makes the
control surface float down.
The control hinge moment coefficient can be written as:
The control floating angle will now become:
which again indicates that deflecting the tab can change the control surface floating angle
19
Stick Free Neutral Point
The total hinge moment coefficient of the elevator is given by:
From which the floating angle of the elevator can be obtained by equating Che  0 and solving for  e . For the case of
Ch0  0and t  0
Where  s is the angle of attack of the stabilizer

 dC 
To evaluate the static longitudinal stability stick free, it is necessary to determine the value of the derivative m dC 
 L  free
This is the value of  dCm  plus the destabilizing effect of freeing the elevators

 dCL  fix
20
The moment coefficient due to the tail was developed and can be restated as follows
Elevator effectiveness
Cm   atVt . .......... .... 5.73
dCL dα The stability contribution of the Free elevator is therefore:

Cmδ   V ηt t
dαt dδe
dCL
Cmδ   V ηt
d e
21
 dCm 
The value of the floating angle derivative  dC  comes form the equation (6-20)
 L Che 0
The angle of attack of the stabilizer,  s was given earlier as follows: s  w  

  
 s   w 1  
 w 
 d s  d w  d 
   1  
dC
 L dCL  d w 
 d s   d  1 dC
   1   * .......... ...because.. N   aw
 dCL   d w  aw  d  w
22
 dCLt   dCL   d t 
     *  
 d e   d t   d e 
 dCLt 
   at *  ................(6.29)
 d e 
Substituting (6-23), (6-26), (6-28) and (6-29) into (6-24)
Finally:
23
Substituting (6-32) into (6-31) and rearranging,
24
dCm
 xac  N 0
dCL
25
26
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27
STATIC DIRECTIONAL STABILITY AND CONTROL
The longitudinal static stability studies were about the aircraft plane of symmetry essentially studying AOA, Lift Coefficient
and their effect on longitudinal static stability
We now will be studying the flight characteristics when the aircraft flight path no longer lies in the plane of symmetry.
This means that the relative wind will be making some angle to the airplane`s centre line, and this angle will be referred to as
the angle of side slip, β.
The airplane`s angle of side slip is just like the airplane`s angle of attack, except that it lies in another plane and its action is
considerably different.
Side slip can be used to increase the airplane`s drag and thereby its flight path angle during approach for a landing
28
 
The angle of side slip β is equal to sin v V or for small angles encountered in normal flight   v V
1
For a curved flight path shown, the angle of yaw Ψ is defined a the angular displacement of the airplane`s centre line from
the azimuth direction taken as zero at some given instant in time, and Ψ does not equal β.
29
For instance, in a 360 degree turn the airplane has yawed 360 degrees, but may have had no side slip during the entire
maneuver. For side slips during which a straight path is maintained, the angle of yaw, Ψ is equa in magnitude but opposite
in sign to the angle of side slip β.
The yawing moment coefficient is defined as

N
Cn 
qSwb
30
The previous figure shows the yawing moment coefficient versus sideslip angle β for two airplane configurations.
To have static directional stability, the airplane must develop a yawing moment that will restore the airplane to its equilibrium
state.
Assume that both airplanes are disturbed from their equilibrium condition, so that the airplane`s are flying with a positive side
slip angle β.
Airplane 1 will develop a restoring moment that will tend to rotate the airplane back to its equilibrium condition, that is zero
side slip angle.
Airplane 2 will develop yawing moment that will tend to increase the side slip angle.
Examining the curves, we see that to have static directional stability, the slop of the yawing moment curve must be positive
Cn  0
Note that an airplane possessing static directional stability will always point into the relative wind, hence the name
Weathercock stability
31
The static directional stability can be developed as was the static longitudinal stability, by summing up the stability
contributions of the component parts of the airplane.
The directional stability of the airplane can be assessed if a curve of yawing moment coefficient,Cn with the angle
of Yaw Ψ is obtained for any given airplane
A negative slope of this curve is required for static directional stability
32
The final directional stability curves shown in Fig. 8-3 are built up from contributions of many parts of the airplane.
The contribution of the wing to the airplane`s stability is very small. The factor that affects the contribution the most is its
angle of sweep-back, Λ.
Swept back wings have slight directional stability, while swept forward wings are slightly unstable.
It is interesting to note that the wing`s contribution to directional stability is very small, where as for the longitudinal case
it was by far the most important factor.
This is due to the fact that an angle of side slip creates only very small cross wind forces on the wing, where as an angle
of attack can produce very large lift forces.
The contribution of the fuselage and nacelles to the directional stability of the airplane is usually unstable.
Under the assumption that a fuselage is a slender body of revolution, (as discussed in longitudinal stability) that the
moment created by the potential flow of an ideal fluid at an angle of attack to the body centre line is unstable and is a
function of the dynamic pressure, q, and the volume of the fuselage
33
This relationship was first established by Munk. The yawing moment due to an angle of side slip is exactly the same.
Therefore expressed directionally:
The yawing moment of the fuselage at an angle of yaw is a great deal easier to estimate than the pitching moment due to an
angle of attack of the fuselage. The reason is that longitudinally the fuselage operates in a very complicated flow regime
including upwash ahead of the wing and downwash behind the wing. Directionally it is assumed that the wing does not
disturb the side slip angles and therefore local values of side slip need not be computed
34
If the fuselage contribution to directional stability is expressed in terms of the rate of change of yawing moment coefficient
per degree angle of yaw, and the fuselage volume obtained by summing up segments chosen for ease of estimation of the
volume:
The directional stability of the combination of wing plus fuselage is usually different from the sum of the two components
obtained separately.
This is due to the interference flow created at the wing fuselage juncture. The interference effect is slightly stabilizing.
35
Engine and propeller contribution
The running propeller can have large effects on the airplane`s directional stability, destabilising if a tractor and stabilising if a
pusher propeller.
The propeller contribution to directional stability arises from the side force component at the propeller disc created because
of yaw.
The yawing moment coefficient produced by the side force on the propeller
at some angle of yaw is:
The cross wind force Yp , can be expressed in terms of the side force coefficient,
C , where
Yp Y p
CYp 
 D 2 
q 
 4 
36
The stability contribution of the running propeller can be obtained by differentiating (8-6) with respect to Ψ in degrees:
Courtesy-perkins & hage
37
The directional stability contribution of the propeller with full power is roughly one a half times that for the wind milling
propeller.
The directional stability contribution of the propeller at full power can then be roughly estimated as:
The total value of the directional stability, including all the contributions us as :
Interference effect
38
Courtesy-perkins & hage
39
The stability contribution of the vertical tail surface can be computed as follows.
The yawing moment produced by the vertical tail at some angle of yaw can be considered simply as the lift created on the
vertical tail, Lv , multiplied by the arm from the aerodynamic centre of the vertical tail to the airplane`s centre of gravity, l
v
The yawing moment coefficient, Cn may be obtained from equation (8-11) by dividing through by qS wb
40
The effective angle of attack of the vertical tail can be given as:
Making use of (8-14), equation (8-12) becomes dCL

v 
d v
The directional stability contribution of the vertical tail can be obtained from (8-15) by differentiating with respect to Ψ
41
This expression can be broken down as follows:
The final estimate of the directional stability of the airplane can be obtained form a summation of the various factors:
42
Directional Control
Although the airplane, by virtue of its symmetry, will normally be in equilibrium at zero sideslip, there are many
flight conditions or maneuvers that introduce yawing moments that must be opposed by some yawing moment
control, if the condition of sideslip is to be maintained.
This yawing moment control is supplied to the pilot by means of a rudder, normally a plain flap making up the
aft portion of the vertical tail.
The flight condition or maneuvers that introduce yawing moments that must be overcome with the rudder
control are as follows:
1. Adverse yaw- when the airplane is rolled into a turn, the rolling control together with the inclination of the lift
vectors on the rolling wing, creates yawing moments which will produce side slip. These yawing moments must
be overcome by the rudder. The use of rudder to maintain zero side slip in turns is called coordinating the turn.
43
2. Slip stream Rotation- the slipstream behind the propeller has a rotational component which changes the angle of attack
of the vertical tail and will create side slip if uncorrected by the rudder. The critical condition for slipstream rotation is for
high power at low speeds.
3. Crosswinds during take-off and Landings- the rudder should be powerful enough to hold the side slip required to make
cross wind take-offs and landings at wind speeds within 20 percent of the stalling speed.
44
4. Antisymmetric power- in multi engined airplanes, the failure of one engine at low air speeds will create a heavy yawing
moment that must be overcome by the rudder in order to maintain flight at zero slip. This is nearly the design condition for the
rudder on multi engined airplanes.
The Rudder power can be very readily developed theoretically in the same manner as the elevator power was developed.
The yawing moment due to deflecting the rudder is given as:
In coefficient form:
The rate of change of yawing moment coefficient per degree change in rudder angle is obtained from (8-23) by differentiating
with respect to rudder deflection  r remembering that the control surface effectiveness factor d v   as discussed earlier.
d r
45
46
47

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Learning objectives:

This second type of static stability is referred to as stick free stability.

The control hinge moment coefficient can be written as:

The control floating angle will now become:

Where  s is the angle of attack of the stabilizer

Cm   atVt . .......... .... 5.73

dCL dα The stability contribution of the Free elevator is therefore:

The angle of attack of the stabilizer,  s was given earlier as follows: s  w  

Substituting (6-23), (6-26), (6-28) and (6-29) into (6-24)

The above link to be accessed by Students

Students are to obtain the Link and take up

The yawing moment coefficient is defined as

A negative slope of this curve is required for static directional stability

Courtesy-perkins & hage

Making use of (8-14), equation (8-12) becomes dCL

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