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4. Lateral/Directional Stability
Copyright Flight Emergency & Advanced Maneuvers Training, Inc. dba Flightlab, 2009. All rights reserved.
For Training Purposes Only
Figure 1
Directional
Stability
z-axis
x-axis
cg
Right Sideslip
v
v is the Y-axis component of
the aircrafts velocity, V.
v = V sin
Fuselage center of
pressure ahead of cg
produces destabilizing
yaw moment.
arm
The side force
produced by the
tail, times the arm,
generates an
overall stabilizing
yaw moment.
V
y-axis
is approximately equivalent to
the AOA of the vertical tail. The
actual sideslip angle at the tail
depends on fuselage/tail
interference effects, on fin offset
and slipstream in the case of
propeller-driven aircraft, and,
especially at high angles of
attack, on the influence of wing
tip vortices or vortices shed by
the forward part of the fuselage.
4.1
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 2
Directional Stability
Response
+C n
Nose-right
yaw
moment
CN
(sideslip to left)
-C n
Nose-left
yaw
moment
4.2
Stable
slope
+ (sideslip to right)
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 3
Contributions to Directional
Stability
Z
Dorsal fin
X
Fuselage, tail,
and dorsal fin
+Cn
Nose-right
yaw
moment
Tail
alone
Tail stalls
here.
Fuselage and
tail
+ (sideslip to right)
-Cn
Nose-left
yaw
moment
Fuselage alone
Figure 4
World War I Fokker Dr1 rudder
4.3
Lateral/Directional Stability
Prop cord
Figure 5
Slipstream
and P-factor
Slipstream
Moment
Thrust
P-factor
Up-going blade
Down-going blade
Down-going
blade: higher
prop
Up-going
blade:
lower prop
V
Resultant
V
Plane of rotation
4.4
Lateral/Directional Stability
Dihedral Effect, Cl
An aircraft with dihedral effect rolls away from a
sideslip (away from the velocity vector). The
term describes a single behavior with more than
a single cause. Dihedral effect was observed first
as resulting from actual geometric dihedral (wing
tips higher than wing roots), but its also
produced by wing sweep, by a high wing
location on a fuselage, and by forces acting on
the vertical tail. For convenience, Figure 6 again
illustrates sideslip angle, , and sideslip velocity,
v, velocity vector, V, plus the direction of roll.
During our flight program, well do steadyheading sideslips to assess the presence of
dihedral effect. Well press on a rudder pedal
while applying opposite aileron, so that the
airplane will be banked but not turning. Well
note the deflections necessary to keep the aircraft
tracking on a steady heading, and well see what
happens when we release the controls.
Steady-heading sideslips give test pilots
information about the rolling moments a slipping
aircraft generates and its lateral/directional
handling qualities. We use them to illustrate the
nature of yaw/roll couple and to demonstrate the
effects of sideslip under various flap
configurations, during aerobatic rolling
maneuvers, and during simulated control
failures. As youll see, an aircraft can sideslip in
any attitudeincluding upside-down.
The interaction between sideslip and dihedral
effect forms the basis of an aircrafts lateral
stability. Lateral stability cant appear unless an
Figure 7
Lateral Stability
Cl , Rolling moment
coefficient
Left slip produces
right roll.
Right roll
moment
Unstable
Right
Left
Slightly
stable
Left roll
moment
Cl
Stable slope
, Sideslip angle
Figure 6
Sideslip
Angle,
Roll Moment
v
x-axis
y-axis
4.5
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 8
Sideslip, Dihedral
Angle, and Resulting
Change in
x-axis
Rolling moment varies in
approximately a linear fashion with
dihedral angle and sideslip angle.
z-axis
Aircraft in a sideslip
to its right
y-axis
Dihedral angle,
v
v
v is the y-axis
component of the
sideslip.
4.6
increases
decreases
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 9
Sideslipinduced Roll
Destabilizing roll
moment
- AOA
Stabilizing roll
moment
+ AOA
Destabilizing roll
moment caused
by side force on
landing gear
Propwash causes
destabilizing roll
moment toward sideslip.
4.7
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 10
Flap Effects
Lift
Distribution
v
Centers of lift move inboard with flaps during a
sideslip, reducing the moment arm through which
dihedral effect operates. Roll moment decreases.
Figure 11
Geometric
Dihedral Effect
CL
Equal lift
differences
produce
equal rolling
moments.
Left wing
Right wing
Equal wing-to-wing
differences generated by
a given sideslip angle at
two different starting s
Resulting roll
moment
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 13
Swept-wing
Dihedral and CL
CL
Aircraft in sideslip
to the right
CL
Right wing
less sweep
Normal, zero
sideslip
Greater lift
difference at
higher aircraft
CL increases roll
moment.
Left wingmore
sweep
Figure 12
Wing Sweep
Sideslip to
right
Zero sideslip
Spanwise
vector
More lift,
more drag
Less lift,
less drag
Free
stream
vector
Normal
vector
25%
cord
Resulting dihedral
effect roll
moment to left
Normal vector
decreases.
Normal vector
increases.
4.9
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 14
Vortex Effects
Sideslip to right
Rolls left
Downwash shifts
laterally with ,
increases with CL.
Downwash shift
causes section angles
of attack to increase.
Downwash shift
causes section angles
of attack to decrease.
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 15
Sideslip and
Roll Rate
Aileron
moment
Low directional stability,
adverse yaw, or top rudder
could cause left sideslip.
v
Sideways
component of
relative wind.
Sideslip-induced roll
moment reinforces aileron
roll moment and increases
roll rate.
Figure 16
Dihedral Effect,
Rudder Use,
Roll Rate
Excess rudder resulting in increased roll moment caused by sideslip opposite roll direction
Coordinated rudder resulting in roll only
(When aircraft directional stability is greater than dihedral effect)
Roll Rate
Insufficient rudder resulting in decreased roll moment caused by sideslip toward roll direction
4.11
Lateral/Directional Stability
4.12
c.g.
No dihedral
Figure 17
Roll due to
Rudder, Cl
r
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 18
Aircraft Yaw Around Z Wind Axis
Lift vector
x body axis
x wind axis
z body axis
z wind axis
4.13
Lateral/Directional Stability
Figure 19
Aircraft Pitch Around Y Wind Axis
x body
axis
V
y body axis
y wind
axis
Figure 20
Dutch Roll
Yaw
Roll
After initial disturbance, aircraft as
shown wants to yaw right (directional
stability) but roll left (roll due to
sideslip angle and dihedral effect). As
the nose-right yaw rate increases, a
right rolling moment due to yaw rate
builds. Left-rolling dihedral effect
declines as sideslip angle decreases.
Dutch Roll
Directional stability, dihedral effect, and roll due
to yaw rate all do battle in the dynamic
phenomenon called Dutch roll. Dutch roll
tendency appears in aircraft with high lateral
stability as compared to directional stability. Its
particularly a problem with swept-wing aircraft,
in which lateral stability increases with angle of
attack (i.e. coefficient of lift), as already
described. Although not nearly as bad, our
straight-wing Zlin has enough Dutch roll in
turbulence to make the ride memorable.
In the Dutch roll, a disturbance in roll or yaw,
whether pilot-induced or caused by turbulence,
creates a sideslip. A sideslip shifting the velocity
vector (relative wind) to the right, as in Figure
20, for example, leads to an opposite rolling
moment to the left (through dihedral effect and
roll due to yaw rate). But the aircrafts
directional stability works to eliminate the
sideslip by causing the nose to yaw to the right,
back into the wind. However, momentum causes
the nose to yaw past center (past zero ), and this
sets up a sideslip in the opposite direction, which
in turn sets up an opposite roll. The resulting out4.14
Velocity vector
Yaw
Roll
Yaw
Roll
Yaw overshoots
decrease as motion
damps out. Roll
subsides.
Lateral/Directional Stability
4.15
Lateral/Directional Stability
4.16