Aircraft Dynamics and Control

Second Semester

Michael Quaicoe
Afe Babalola University
 Evaluation
• Attendance – 10%
• 30 mins late means you are absent
• 0 marks for late submission of assignments
• Coming to class with your own calculator is
worth 0.5 marks

2
 Course Content
• Introduction to dynamics and control of
atmospheric flight vehicles.
• Nonlinear equations of motion.
• Stability derivatives and linearized equations for
longitudinal and lateral flight.
• Linear systems:
• state equations
• transfer functions
• stability
• time response
• frequency response.
• Fundamentals of feedback control
• root locus and Nyquist analysis applied to
flight control. 3
 Recommended Books
• Flight stability and automatic control by Nelson
• Flight dynamics of aero and space vehicles by
Rama Yedavalli
• Aircraft Control and Simulation by Stevens,
Lewis and Johnson

4
 Introduction
• Flight dynamics is about the relatively short term
motion of aircraft in response to controls or to
external disturbances such as atmospheric
turbulence.

5
 Frames of Reference
• Inertial frame: this frame stays fixed with neither
(rectilinear) translation nor any rotation.
• Body fixed frame: this frame is fixed to the body
so as the body undergoes translational and
rotational motion, so does this body fixed frame.
• Note that Newton’s laws of motion, which are
used for writing down the equations of
motion for a body in motion, are always
stated with respect to the inertial coordinate
frame.

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 Coordinate Transformations
• Consider two frames of
reference separated by θ
(positive angles are in the
clockwise direction).
• It can be seen that one
reference frame can be
obtained from the other by
rotating through θ.
• Generally, one frame can be
obtained from another by a
series of rotations through the
appropriate angles. 7
 Coordinate Transformations
• Also X  x cos   y sin 
Y  x sin   y cos 
Zz
 X  cos   sin  0  x 
  Y    sin  cos  0   y 
 Z   0 0 1   z 
X   x
  Y   R  y 
 Z   z 

• Rθ is called a rotation matrix or direction cosine

matrix (DCM). 8
 Coordinate Transformations
• From the previous result, it can be seen that the
DCM relate the unit vectors in one frame to unit
vectors in another frame.
• Hence, rotation matrices:
• describe the orientation of one frame with
respect to (wrt) another reference frame.
• can be used to transform components of a
vector in one frame to components of the
same vector in another frame.

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 Coordinate Transformations
• Consider a vector U in two different frames a & b.
• Let Ua be the components of U in frame a and Ub
be the components of U in frame b.
• If Cab is the rotation matrix relating frame a to b,
U a  CabU b

• For rotation matrices, Cba = Cab-1 = CabT.

 U b  Cab1U a  Cab
T
U a  CbaU a

• Read about properties of rotation matrices

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 Successive Rotations
• Consider a vector U in three different frames a, b
& c.
• Let Ua be the components of U in frame a, Ub be
the components of U in frame b and Uc be the
components of U in frame c.

 U a  CabU b , U b  CbcU c , U a  CacU c

 U a  CabU b  CabCbcU c  CacU c
 Cac  CabCbc

• What will Cca be? 11

 Principal Rotations
• A principal rotation is a rotation by which one
reference frame is obtained from another one
through a single rotation about one of the unit
vectors of the original reference frame.
• Note that each rotation is accompanied by a
rotation matrix.
• To obtain the associated rotation matrix, follow
these steps:

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 Principal Rotations
• For a rotation through θx about the x-axis
1 0 0 
C1  0 cos  x  sin  x 
0 sin  x cos  x 

• For a rotation through θy about the y-axis

 cos  y 0 sin  y 
 
C2   0 1 0 
  sin  y 0 cos  y 

• For a rotation through θz about the z-axis
cos  z  sin  z 0
C3   sin  z cos  z 0 
 0 0 1  13
 Euler Angles
• Previously, we saw the relationship between two
frames, differing from each other by only one
angular rotation.
• For a general body in motion in a three
dimensional space, a minimum of three
successive rotations around the orthogonal
coordinate axes are needed to go from the
stationary inertial reference frame to any arbitrary
orientation of the moving body frame.
• The angles of rotation are called the Euler angles
(or Eulerian angles).
• Each rotation is represented by a rotation matrix.
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 Euler Angles
• Conventionally, a 3–2–1 sequence of rotations is
used in airplane flight dynamics.
• The orientation or attitude of the airplane as seen
from the ground is described by a set of three
angles (φ, θ, ψ).
• To perform a 3–2–1 sequence of rotations, first
rotate the Earth axes about the ZE axis by angle
ψ, followed by a rotation about the intermediate Y
axis by angle θ, and finally a third rotation about
the XB axis by an angle φ as shown.

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Euler Angles

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 Euler Angles
• Each rotation is represented by a transformation
matrix as

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 Euler Angles
• The net transformation between XEYEZE and
XBYBZB is given by the matrix multiplication of the
three transformation as follows

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 Euler Angles
• The reverse transformation between body- and
Earth-fixed axes is

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 Axes Systems
• There are three different axis systems that are
important to the development of rigid aircraft 6 DOF
equations of motion.
• Inertial axis system: used as a reference to
determine the instantaneous position and
orientation of the aircraft. An Earth-fixed inertial axis
system is conventionally used in flight dynamics.
• Body-fixed axis system.
• Wind-fixed axis system: defines the orientation
and angular rate of the relative wind as seen by the
aircraft. The aerodynamic forces on the airplane
depend on the relative orientation and angular rate
between the body- and wind-fixed axes. 20
 Earth-Fixed Axis System
• The origin of the Earth-fixed axis system is located
on the surface of the Earth with the ZE axis pointing
toward the center of the Earth.
• The local altitude of an aircraft is therefore
measured along the negative ZE axis.
• The plane XEYE is locally tangent to the surface of
the Earth, effectively approximating the Earth to be
a flat surface.

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 Body-Fixed Axis System
• This is fixed to the airplane body (with origin usually
at C.G. of the airplane) and translates and rotates
with the airplane.
• Thus, when compared with an Earth-fixed reference
axis, the body-fixed axes can indicate changes in
the airplane’s position and orientation with respect
to the Earth.
• Likewise, when compared with a wind-fixed axis
system, the body-fixed axes reveals the orientation
and relative angular rate of the relative wind
incident on the airplane.

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Axes Systems

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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
• The wind-fixed axes are also anchored at the
airplane CG, same as the body-fixed axis system,
but the XW axis is always aligned along the resultant
velocity vector (relative wind).
• Note that since the XW axis is always aligned along
the relative wind, when the airplane maneuvers
(e.g., climbs or descends, or turns left or right), the
wind-fixed axes reorient with the relative wind. The
orientation and the angular rate of the wind-fixed
axes therefore are not necessarily the same as
those of the body-fixed axes even though they
share a common point of origin.
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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
• Consider the body- and wind-axes, their origins
collocated at the airplane CG, with the X W axis
aligned along the velocity vector as per its
definition. The relative orientation of the body- and
wind-fixed axes is defined in terms of two angles -
the aerodynamic angles, β and α.
• Starting with the body-fixed axes, first rotate around
the YB axis by an angle (−α). This brings the XBZB
axes along the XSZS axes (an intermediate axes
called the “stability” axes).

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Wind-Fixed Axis System

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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
• Next, rotate by the angle β about the ZS axis so that
the X axis aligns with the relative wind.
• By definition, this then is the wind-fixed axis
system. The ZW axis is the same as the ZS axis,
which remains in the plane of symmetry (XBZB
plane). The YW axis completes the right-handed
orthogonal coordinate system.
• In the absence of wind (still atmosphere), the
relative wind is identical in magnitude to the inertial
velocity. Hence, the wind-fixed axis system gives
another representation of the inertial velocity in
terms of its magnitude V and two angles, α and β.
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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
• A set of three Euler angles (μ, γ, χ) can be defined
through which the Earth-fixed axes may be rotated
to coincide with the wind-fixed axes.
• It follows the same 3-2-1 convention.
• χ (heading angle) shows the direction is which the
airplane is heading.
• γ (flight path angle) indicates whether the airplane
is climbing or descending.
• μ (wind-axis roll angle) is also called the velocity-
vector roll angle because the wind XW axis
coincides with the velocity vector.

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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
Difference between flight path angle and pitch angle.

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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
• The conversion between Earth- and wind-fixed
axes through the Euler angles μ, γ, χ may be
represented using

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 Wind-Fixed Axis System

• The transformation between the wind- and body-

fixed axes involves the angles α, β as indicated.
The angles α and β are called aerodynamic angles,
angle of attack and sideslip angle, respectively.
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 Wind-Fixed Axis System
• The wind-fixed XWYWZW axes can be rotated to
coincide with the body-fixed axis system using two
rotations as follows: First rotate around Z W axis by
angle −β to match with the XSYSZS stability axis
system; then rotate about YS by angle α to coincide
with the XBYBZB axes.
• Thus

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 Relation between the Body-Axis
and Wind-Axis Euler Angles
• The Earth-fixed axes can be rotated by a sequence
of three Euler angles χ, γ, μ to reorient them along
the wind-fixed axes. Also, the wind-fixed axes when
rotated by the sequence of angles (−β, α) will
coincide with the body-fixed axes.
• However, rotation through the three Euler angles ψ,
θ, φ, will also reorient the Earth-fixed axes along
the body-fixed axes.
• Hence

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• Upon expansion

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 Relation between the Body-Axis
and Wind-Axis Euler Angles
Matching the last row of the respective matrices

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 Relation b/n the Angular Velocity
Vector and Euler Angle Rates
• The components of the body-axis angular velocity
(p,q,r) are related to the rate of change of the Euler
angles (Euler rates, ).
• To derive the relation, begin with the Earth-fixed
axes and give a small rotation Δψ about the Z E
axis.
• Next, following the standard Euler angle sequence,
give a rotation Δθ - this will be about the
intermediate Y1 axis.
• The final rotation is Δφ about the X2 axis, which is
the same as XB
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 Relation b/n the Angular Velocity
Vector and Euler Angle Rates
• This sequence of infinitesimal rotations may be
added vectorially with the appropriate unit vectors
about each axis, as:

• Taking the differential with time gives

where the left hand term is the same as the body-axis

angular velocity ω with components (p, q, r) about the
body axes XBYBZB.
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 Relation b/n the Angular Velocity
Vector and Euler Angle Rates
• Hence

• However, note that the vectors in the equation are

represented in different axis systems. To sum them
up, they all need to be converted to a common axis
system, (in this case the body axis).

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 Relation b/n the Angular Velocity
Vector and Euler Angle Rates
• Hence

• Simplifying yields:

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 Relation b/n the Angular Velocity
Vector and Euler Angle Rates
• Therefore

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 Relation b/n the Angular Velocity
Vector and Euler Angle Rates
• Similarly, the relation between the components of
the wind-axis angular velocity, (pw, qw, rw), and the
wind-axis Euler angle rates () may be derived

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 Difference between the Body-Axis
and Wind-Axis Angular Velocity
• Since the angles separating the body- and wind-
fixed axes are the aerodynamic angles α and β,
any difference between ω and ωw will be seen as a
rate of change of α and β.
• Just as the angles α and β decide the static
aerodynamic forces on the airplane, their rates of
change determine the dynamic aerodynamic
forces acting on the airplane. Therefore, the
difference (ω−ωw) is a significant quantity
aerodynamically.

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 Difference between the Body-Axis
and Wind-Axis Angular Velocity
• We begin from the wind-axis and perform two
infinitesimal rotations, the first by −Δβ and the
second by Δα.
• The first rotation takes place about the Z W axis
(which is same as the stability ZS axis). The
second rotation is about the stability Y S axis (same
as body YB axis) with unit vector jB. The vector sum
of these two infinitesimal rotations is

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 Difference between the Body-Axis
and Wind-Axis Angular Velocity
• Taking the differential with respect to time gives

• where is (ω − ωw). Hence,

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 Difference between the Body-Axis
and Wind-Axis Angular Velocity
Converting to components along the body-axis, we
get

It can be seen that the rates of change of the

aerodynamic angles are related to the difference
between the angular velocities of the body- and wind-
fixed axes.
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Non-Linear Equations of Motion

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 Non-Linear Equations of Motion
Consider a mass particle within the body denoted by
dm.
Let the position vectors of the origin of the body frame
C, the mass particle dm be as shown (with respect to
the inertial reference frame).

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 Translational Equations of Motion
From Newton’s 2nd law, the force on small mass, dm
d dr  d  dr 
dF   dm     dm
dt  dt  dt  dt 
d  dr  d dr
 dF  F   dt  dt  dm  dt  dt dm
but r = R + rc
d d
F    R  rc  dm 
dt dt
d d
dt dt
  Rdm   r dm 
c

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 Translational Equations of Motion
but  rc dm  mrcm / c , where rcm / c is the position vector of the
centre of mass of the body from the origin of the body frame.
Since the origin of the body frame is at the centre of mass of
the body, rcm / c  0.
  rc dm  0

F
d d
dt dt  
Rdm 
d d

dt dt
d
R  dm  Vc m
dt
d
 F  m Vc
dt
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Translational Equations of Motion
It is usually convenient to write the components of the
velocity and angular velocity in the body axis.
Let Vc  u v w
T

B   p q r 
T

d d
Vc  Vc  B  Vc
dt I dt B
Then in terms of body axis components,
d 
FB  m  Vc  B  Vc 
 dt B 
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Translational Equations of Motion

 u  rv  qw 

 FB  m  v  ru  pw  
 w  qu  pv 

51
Translational Equations of Motion
Similarly, writing the force and Vc in terms of wind-axis
components,
Vc  V 0 0
T

W   pw qw rw 
T

d d
Vc  Vc  W  Vc
dt I dt W
Then in terms of wind axis components,
d 
FW  m  Vc  B  Vc 
 dt W 
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Translational Equations of Motion

 V 
   pww   p   sin  
 FW  m  rwV   w 
q  q  


 w  
  qwV   rww   r   cos  
     b

 pwb   p   sin  
 b  
but  qw    q   
 rwb   r   cos  
    b

53
 Translational Equations of Motion
 pww   c  s  0   c  0 s    p   sin  
 w      
 qw     s  c  0   0 1 0   q   
 rww   0 0 1    s  0 c    r   cos  
    
Expanding and substituting into the equation of motion
 V 
 
FW  m   
  p sin   r cos     V 
 
 p cos   r sin   sin    q    cos  V 

54
 Translational Equations of Motion
The forces acting on an aircraft moving in earth’s
atmosphere can be categorized into 3 main sources:
1. Gravity (G)
2. Aerodynamic (A)
3. Propulsive (P)

 F  FG  F A  F P

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 Translational Equations of Motion
We can write FG in the Earth axes as

 0 

F  0 
G 
 mg  E
 mg   mg sin  
 FBG   mg sin  cos   FWG   mg sin  cos  
 mg cos  cos    mg cos  cos  

56
 Translational Equations of Motion
The aerodynamic force acting on the airplane is best
expressed in the stability axis system.

57
 Translational Equations of Motion
It can be resolved into components along the:
1. positive YS axis, called the side force, Y.
2. negative ZS direction, lift force, L
3. negative XS direction, drag force, D.
 D    D cos   L sin  
F A   Y   FBA   Y 

  L  S   D sin   L cos  
  D cos   Y sin  
FWA   D sin   Y cos  
 L 
58
 Translational Equations of Motion
We will assume that the entire thrust acts along the
body XB axis
T 
 FBT   0 
 0  B
 cos  cos  
FWT  T   sin  cos  
  sin  

59
 Translational Equations of Motion
Hence, we can write out the full translational equation
as for the body axis as

 u  rv  qw 
m  v  ru  pw  
 w  qu  pv 
  mg    D cos   L sin   T 
 mg sin  cos       
   Y   0
 mg cos  cos     D sin   L cos    0 

60
 Translational Equations of Motion
Hence, we can write out the full translational equation
as for the wind axis as
 V 
 
m  
  p sin   r cos     V 
 
 p cos   r sin   sin    q    cos  V 
  mg sin     D cos   Y sin    T cos  cos  
 mg sin  cos     D sin   Y cos     T sin  cos  
     
 mg cos  cos    L   T sin  

61
 Rotational Equations of Motion
For a rotating body, Newton’s second law can be
stated as
d d
M  H   r  mv 
dt dt
Let’s evaluate the angular momentum of the
elemental mass dm, about the C.G.
dr
dH  rc  vdm  rc  dm
dt
dr dR drc
but r   R  rc    
dt dt dt I

dr drc
 Vc     rc
dt dt B

62
 Rotational Equations of Motion
drc
but for a rigid body, 0
dt B

 dH  rc  Vc    rc  dm
H   rc  Vc    rc  dm   rc  Vc dm   rc    rc  dm
H   rc dm  Vc   rc    rc  dm
but  rc dm  0
H   rc    rc  dm

63
Rotational Equations of Motion

let rc   x z  and    p q r 
T T
y
   rc   qz  ry  iˆ   pz  rx  ˆj   py  qx  kˆ
 rc    rc    p  y 2  z 2   qxy  rxz  iˆ

  q  x 2  z 2   pxy  ryz  ˆj

  r  x 2  y 2   pxz  qyz  kˆ

64
Rotational Equations of Motion
let H  H x iˆ  H y ˆj  H z kˆ
H x  p   y  z  dm  q  xydm  r  xzdm
2 2

H y   p  xydm  q   x 2  z 2  dm  r  yzdm
H z   p  xzdm  q  yzdm  r   x  y  dm
2 2

65
Rotational Equations of Motion
H x  pI xx  qI xy  rI xz
H y   pI xy  qI yy  rI yz
H z   pI xz  qI yz  rI zz
 H x   I xx  I xy  I xz   p 
 H    I  
 y   xy I yy  I yz   q   H  I 
 H z    I xz  I yz I zz   r 
dH dH
but M    B  H
dt I dt B
 H    H
B

66
 Rotational Equations of Motion
H x  pI
 xx  qI xy  rI xz
H y   pI
 xy  qI yy  rI yz
H z   pI
 xz  qI yz  rI zz
B  H   qH z  rH y  iˆ   pH z  rH x  ˆj   pH y  qH y  kˆ
T
let M   M x M y M z 
M  H   qH  rH 
x x z y

M y  H y   rH x  pH z 
M z  H z   pH y  qH y 
67
 Rotational Equations of Motion
Since an aircraft is symmetric about the x-z plane, I xy  I yz  0

M x  I xx p  I xz r  qr  I zz  I yy   I xz pq
M y  I yy q  rp  I xx  I zz   I xz  p 2  r 2 
M z  I zz r I xz p  pq  I yy  I xx   I xz qr

68
 Rotational Equations of Motion
For the special case where the body-fixed axes are chosen to
coincide with the airplane principal axes, the cross product
of inertia, I xz . The equation then simplifies to

M x  I xx p  qr  I zz  I yy 
M y  I yy q  rp  I xx  I zz 
M z  I zz r  pq  I yy  I xx 

69
 Rotational Equations of Motion

The moments can be categorized into 2 main

sources:
1. Aerodynamic (A)
2. Propulsive (P)

70
 Rotational Equations of Motion

The net moment about the CG is usually specified

directly in terms of body-axis components, ℒ, M, and
N.
ℒ acting about the XB axis is called the rolling
moment, M about the YB axis is the pitching moment,
and N is the yawing moment about the ZB axis.
L 
M BA   M 
 N 

71
 Rotational Equations of Motion
The propulsive force has been taken in to be a thrust
T, acting along the XB axis. Depending on the offset h
between the body-fixed axes and the thrust line, a
pitching moment may be produced.

72
 Rotational Equations of Motion
Usually, the engines are placed on the airplane such
that the propulsive moment is as small as possible.
Hence, we shall assume MT=0.
Hence, our rotational equations of motion become

L  I xx p  I xz r  qr  I zz  I yy   I xz pq
M  I yy q  rp  I xx  I zz   I xz  p  r
2 2

N  I zz r I xz p  pq  I yy  I xx   I xz qr

73
Rotational Equations of Motion

74
Rotational Equations of Motion

75
 Non-Linear Equations of Motion
Example
An aircraft is flying straight and level at a constant
velocity of 103s−1, and then performs a symmetric pull
up such that Θ̇ = 0.05 rads−1 = constant.
Assume the aircraft’s x axis is aligned with the flight
path throughout the motion and that at t = 0, x E = 0, yE
= 0 and zE = 1524 m. Find the position coordinates xE,
yE and zE at t = 5 s. Assume Ψ = 0.

76
Non-Linear Equations of Motion
Solution
 u  103
 v    0  m/s
   
 w  0 
symmetric motion means it lies within the x-z plane
 p  0, r  0,   0,   0
  q  constant  0.05 rad/s
    t  0.05t
 x E  c c * * 103
 y    s c * *  0 
 E 
 z E    s * *  0 
77
Non-Linear Equations of Motion
Solution

 x E  103cos  0.05t 
y E  0
z E  103sin  0.05t 
5
x E   103cos  0.05t  dt  509.652m
0
5
z E  1524   103sin  0.05t  dt  1588.066m
0

78