UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN MEKANIKAL

40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel. : 03-5543 6268 Fax: 03-5543 5160

Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.) Mechanical – EM220

MEC672
FLIGHT DYNAMICS AND CONTROL
MAR 2020 – SEPTEMBER 2020

Mini Project
Subsonic Aerial Vehicle Design Flying Quality

Bil Student Name Student ID Signature

1. Mirza Iddin bin Rahmat 2017806254

2. Abdul Rashid bin Abd Rahman 2016229474

3. Muhammad Amirin Sofi bin Roslan 2017806714

4. Amirul Rafiq bin Abdul Hakim 2015283618

5. Iz’aan Syafiq bin Roslan 2017806454

Lecturer’s Details

Name Dr. Rizal Effendy Bin Mohd Nasir

Room No. T1-A16-4A

1
 Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 5

2.0 MATHEMATICAL MODEL ............................................................................................ 12

2.1 Longitudinal Data........................................................................................................... 12

2.2 Lateral Data .................................................................................................................... 13

2.3 Longitudinal Motion Stability ........................................................................................ 15

2.4 Lateral Motion Stability ................................................................................................. 17

3.0 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 23

4.0 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 45

5.0 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 48

6.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 49

7.0 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 50

2
 List of Figures
Figure 1: Sketch of a typical lift curve............................................................................................ 6
Figure 2: Aft tail contribution to the pitching moment ................................................................... 6
Figure 3: Variation of lateral root with dihedral effec .................................................................. 10
Figure 4: Variation of lateral root with yaw damping .................................................................. 11
Figure 5: Script for characteristic equation in MATLAB ............................................................. 16
Figure 6: Script for lateral characteristic equation in MATLAB .................................................. 19
Figure 7: Orthogonal View of UAV Design ................................................................................. 23
Figure 8: Mission profile for cloud seeding .................................................................................. 25
Figure 9: Graph of lift coefficient vs angle of attack .................................................................... 28
Figure 10: Graph of drag coefficient vs angle of attack ............................................................... 28
Figure 11: Graph of sideforce vs sideslip angle............................................................................ 29
Figure 12: Graph of roll moment vs sideslip angle....................................................................... 30
Figure 13: Graph of yaw moment vs sideslip angle ..................................................................... 30
Figure 14: Formula of Longitudinal Derivative............................................................................ 32
Figure 15: Formula for Lateral Derivative.................................................................................... 33
Figure 16: compute using MATLAB ............................................................................................ 35
Figure 17: Compute using MATLAB ........................................................................................... 36
Figure 18: Phugoid step response ................................................................................................. 37
Figure 19: Phugoid step response compute using MATLAB ....................................................... 38
Figure 20: Short step response ...................................................................................................... 39
Figure 21: Short period step response compute using MATLAB ................................................ 40
Figure 22: Dutch roll step response .............................................................................................. 40
Figure 23: Dutch roll step response compute using MATLAB .................................................... 41
Figure 24: Elevator step response ................................................................................................. 42
Figure 25: Elevator step response compute using MATLAB ....................................................... 42
Figure 26: Aileron step response .................................................................................................. 43
Figure 27: Aileron step response compute using MATLAB ........................................................ 43
Figure 28: Rudder step response ................................................................................................... 44
Figure 29: Rudder step response compute using MATLAB ........................................................ 44
Figure 30: Dorsal fin (in circle) .................................................................................................... 46

3
 List of Tables
Table 1: Longitudinal flying qualities (phugoid mode) .................................................................. 8
Table 2: Longitudinal flying qualities (short-period mode) ........................................................... 8
Table 3: Dutch roll flying qualities ................................................................................................. 9
Table 4: Longitudinal stability derivatives ................................................................................... 16
Table 5: :Lateral stability derivatives ........................................................................................... 18
Table 6: Detail dimensions of the UAV ....................................................................................... 24
Table 7: UAV specifications ......................................................................................................... 24
Table 8: Mission profile ................................................................................................................ 25
Table 9: UAV Classifications ....................................................................................................... 26
Table 10: UAV’s parameters ........................................................................................................ 27
Table 11: Coefficients at different angle of attack........................................................................ 27
Table 12: Force and moment at different sideslip angle ............................................................... 29
Table 13: Longitudinal flight dynamics coefficient...................................................................... 31
Table 14: Lateral flight dynamics coefficient ............................................................................... 31
Table 15: Flight data for longitudinal derivative .......................................................................... 33
Table 16: Flight data for lateral derivative ................................................................................... 34
Table 17: State space for longitudinal .......................................................................................... 34
Table 18: State space for lateral derivative ................................................................................... 36
Table 19: Natural Frequency, Damping Ratio, Time Constants, Settling Time, Time to
Double/Half Amplitude ................................................................................................................ 37

4
1.0 INTRODUCTION

For decades the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has attracted significant
interest in the aviation industry, especially in Malaysia. The current UAV market was used to be
driven by military requirements. The mainly military applications of UAVs include surveillance,
transport and search and rescue. Due to its lower operational costs for same purposes, safer and
multirole capabilities, UAV was purposed to civilian applications such as courier, surveillance,
agriculture, and cloud seeding.

Aerodynamic design plays an important part in the technical layout of an UAV. The
structures and mechanisms in an UAV are heavily affected by the aerodynamic design. Good
aerodynamic design enables an UAV to have good performance and reduces costs via lower fuel
consumption.

OpenVSP is a parametric aircraft geometry tool and was launched on January 10, 2012,
under the NASA Open Source Agreement (NOSA) as an open source initiative. OpenVSP
software was capable to design a 3D model with defined parameter and can be scaled down to
UAV size. Besides, OpenVSP can also run the analysis on the model to extract the important
coefficient during specified condition such as cruising, climbing and gliding.

Lift and drag from the model of the UAV can be calculated approximately from the
coefficients obtained from the VSPAero function on the OpenVSP software. The coefficient
acquired such as lift coefficient (𝐶𝐿 ), drag coefficient (𝐶𝐷 ), induced drag coefficient (𝐶𝐷𝑖 ),
coefficient of moment (𝐶𝑀 ) and others. These coefficients then further used to determine the
stability of the UAV.

For the cruising and gliding flying condition, it is recommended to fly at the pitching angle
() with the highest lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) where lift (L) is at the highest and drag (D) at the
lowest. At this , minimum thrust was needed to keep the lift is higher than the D and weight (W)
of the UAV hence lower the fuel consumption.

5
 Since the lift is proportional to the , the  while climbing was higher than the  while
cruising and gliding because, higher lift (L) and thrust (T) was needed to counter the drag (D) and
also supporting a component of weight (W). However, the value of  must not exceeding the stall
angle. The stall angle can be obtained from the lift curve.

Figure 1: Sketch of a typical lift curve

The stability of the UAV was first being evaluated from the static stability. The static
stability mostly emphasized on the lift contributed by each UAV component (wing, fuselage, tail).
Different amount of lift force and different length of the component from the centre of gravity
resulting in the in stability of moment at the centre of gravity. Usually the moment contributed
from the wing and fuselage tend to pitch up the UAV while cruising. This moment was then
countered with the moment contributed by horizontal tail which stabilized the UAV.

Figure 2: Aft tail contribution to the pitching moment

6
 Adjusting the distance of the wing from the centre of gravity may also improve the static
stability of the UAV, but the manoeuvrability and the dynamic stability of the UAV would be low.
Dynamic stability consists of longitudinal motion (stick fixed) and lateral motion (stick fixed).

The stability of longitudinal motion (stick fixed) can be defined from the longitudinal
approximation which consist long-period (phugoid) and short-period. The long-period mode is
characterized by changes in pitch attitude, altitude, and velocity at a nearly constant angle of attack.
Hence, the pitching moment equation and the change in angle of attack may be neglected. The
frequency and damping ratios for the long-period motion can be approximated by the following
equation:

Where: 𝑛𝑝 = Frequency of the phugoid

𝑝 = Damping ratio of phugoid

g = Acceleration due to gravity

𝑢𝑜 = Velocity of the UAV
L/D = Lift-to-drag ratio

While the frequency and damping ratios for the short period mode can be approximated
by:

Where: 𝑛𝑠𝑝 = Frequency of the short-period

𝑠𝑝 = Damping ratio of short-period

𝑢𝑜 = Velocity of the UAV

7
 Other variables that was not mentioned above was derivatives that must be calculated
before approximating the frequency and damping ratios. The formula to calculate the derivatives
was included in Appendix 1. The obtained value was then compared with the table below to
determine the longitudinal flying quality.

Phugoid mode
Level 1 𝑝 > 0.04
Level 2 𝑝 > 0
Level 3 𝑇2 > 55s

Table 1: Longitudinal flying qualities (phugoid mode)

Short-period mode
Categories A and C Category B
𝑠𝑝 𝑠𝑝 𝑠𝑝 𝑠𝑝
Level min max min max
1 0.35 1.30 0.3 2.0
2 0.25 2.00 0.2 2.0
3 0.15 - 0.15

Table 2: Longitudinal flying qualities (short-period mode)

For the classification of the airplanes, the UAV falls into class 1 nonterminal category B
which the characteristic is small, light airplanes, normally accomplished using gradual
maneuvers and without precision tracking, although accurate flight-path control may be required.
Hence, to achieve level 1 longitudinal flying quality, the UAV must have 𝑝 > 0.04 and minimum

𝑠𝑝 at 0.3 and maximum at 2.0.

Move on to the lateral stability, there are three conditions should be paid attention to which
is Dutch-Roll mode, roll mode and spiral mode. The determination of flying quality of Dutch-Roll
mode have the same method with phugoid and long period mode. The frequency and damping
ratios was calculated by using equation below and derivatives in Appendix 2.

8
 Where: 𝑛𝐷𝑅 = Frequency of the Dutch-Roll
𝐷 = Damping ratio of Dutch-Roll

This equation was originated from the characteristic equation as follows:

The classification of the flying quality is based on table below:

Level Category Class Min  Min 𝑛 Min 𝑛

1 A I, IV 0.19 0.35 1.0
II, III 0.19 0.35 0.4
B All 0.08 0.15 0.4
C I, II-C, IV 0.08 0.15 1.0
II-L, III 0.08 0.15 0.4
2 All All 0.02 0.05 0.4
3 All All 0.02 --- 0.4

Table 3: Dutch roll flying qualities

Hence, for the UAV to be flying at level 1, it must fulfil the conditions that highlighted in yellow.

However Dutch-Roll, spiral and roll mode flying quality can be determined by solving the
eigenvalue obtained from the matrix below

9
 All of the derivatives were also obtained from the equations in appendix 2. Then after
solving for the eigenvalues, the characteristic equation was formed as follows.

Usually there will be two real roots and one complex root. The real root which is near to
the value of zero would be the root for spiral mode while the complex root is for Dutch-Roll mode.
The other real root will be the root for roll mode. The lateral stability may be evaluated when these
roots was plotted on the real and imaginary axis. These roots were affected when there is changes
in dihedral effect, 𝐶𝑙 and yaw damping, 𝐶𝑛 .

Figure 3: Variation of lateral root with dihedral effec

10
 Figure 4: Variation of lateral root with yaw damping

From figure 3 and 4, it can be seen that the Dutch roll and spiral motions were shown to be
influenced by static directional stability and dihedral effect in an opposing manner. To satisfy the
flying quality specifications for both the spiral and Dutch roll modes, designers have solved this
problem is by incorporating a yaw damper in the design. The yaw damper is an automatic system
that artificially improves the system damping. The increased damping provided by the yaw damper
improves both the spiral and Dutch roll characteristics.

11
2.0 MATHEMATICAL MODEL

In investigating dynamic longitudinal and lateral stability of airplane, correct mathematical

model must be used. In this chapter will discuss the derivatives of flight dynamics, state space
matrix and its solution used in this project.

Before proceeding in finding the derivatives of flight dynamics and state space matrix, the
data of specific atmospheric condition must be calculated first. In this mini project, the dynamic
stability was investigated in cruise condition at 5° angle of attack and Mach 0.08 . The related data
and equations used were tabulated in the table below:

2.1 Longitudinal Data

1) CLo and CDo

- Lift and Drag Coefficient at cruise condition

2) Cla, Cda and Cma

- Slope of lift, drag , and moment equation. Used gradient equation where is

3) Cmadot

4) Cmq

12
5) CLM, CDM, and CMM

- assume no changes when change in forward speed.

6) CMde

To find CMde the CZde was calculated by using equation below:

Τau was found by using the typical flap effectiveness graph as shown below,

2.2 Lateral Data

1) CyB , ClB, CnB

- Found by the slope at cruise condition

2) Clp

- The taper ratio, λ is equal to 1 due to straight wing

13
3) Cnp

4) Clr

5) Cnr

6) Clδa

7) Clδr

8) Clδr

9) Cyβtail

14
 2.3 Longitudinal Motion Stability

For longitudinal motion, the set of linearized longitudinal equation were shown below:

Rewriting above equation into state space matrix. To simplify the equation above, the force
derivative Zq and Zwdot were neglect as they contribute very little aircraft response. The state
space for longitudinal motion was shown below:

The list of definition in longitudinal stability derivatives is shown in the table below:
Derivative Equation

Xu

Zu

Mu

Xw

Zw

Mw

15
 Zalpha

Zwdot

Mwdot

Zq

Mq

Table 4: Longitudinal stability derivatives

After all the derivatives were calculated, the state space matrix was computed by using
MATLAB to get the characteristic equation and eigen values for phugoid and short period mode.
The script used in MATLAB in finding the characteristic equation and eigen values were shown
below:

Figure 5: Script for characteristic equation in MATLAB

16
 2.4 Lateral Motion Stability

For lateral directional equations consists of side force, rolling motion and yawing moment
equation of motions. The set of lateral equations were shown below:

The equation was simplified and written in the state space matrix.

Before computing the space state matrix in MATLAB, the list of derivatives for lateral stability
was tabulated in the table below:

Derivative Equation

Yb

Nb

Lb

17
Yp

Np

Lp

Yr

Nr

Lr

Yda

Ydr

Nda

Ndr

Lda

Ldr

Table 5: :Lateral stability derivatives

18
The script used in MATLAB in finding the characteristic equation and eigen values for lateral
stability were shown below:

Figure 6: Script for lateral characteristic equation in MATLAB

2.6 Time Response

To investigate the response of elevator (pitching), yawing (rudder) and rolling (aileron),
the time response to a unit step input was plot by using MATLAB. The performance is
characterized by the overshoot, delay time, rise time, and settling time of transient response to a
unit step. However, each performance was check also manually by using the equation as shown
below:

In this mini project the settling time, ts were set at 2% to a unit step input,

4.0
𝑡𝑠 =
𝜔nζ

The rise time, tr

The delay time, tr

19
The time to peak amplitude, tp

The example of time response plot to a unit step input were show as below:

Figure 3: Time response to a unit step input

To plot the time response to a unit step input for elevator, rudder and aileron in MATLAB, the
transfer function used in the terms of undamped natural frequency, ωn and damping ratio, ζ as
shown as below:

20
 Figure 4: Script for finding plot of step response in MATLAB

However, the equation for undamped natural frequency, ωn and damping ratio, ζ used in
transfer function for each response were different with each other. The characteristic equation and
formula for undamped natural frequency, ωn and damping ratio, ζ for each response shown below
before converting it to transfer function to be compute by using MATLAB:

Pure Pitching Motion (Elevator)

Characteristic Equation,

Equation of undamped natural frequency, ωn and damping ratio, ζ,

21
Pure Yawing Motion (Rudder)

Characteristic Equation,

Equation of undamped natural frequency, ωn and damping ratio, ζ,

Pure Rolling Motion

As there is no oscillation used in rolling transfer function, the undamped natural frequency and
damping ratio were not used, instead the formula used before converting it into transfer function
was shown below:

To change it to transfer function, the equation above need to Laplace Transform 1 – е-1/τ, the
equation after Laplace transform was shown below:

𝐿δa 1⁄
𝜏
𝑝(𝑠) = − ×( ) Δδa
𝐿𝑝 𝑠(𝑠 + 1⁄𝜏)

Since there is no change in aileron deflection, Δδa is equal to 1.

22
3.0 RESULTS

1. Orthogonal View

Top View Isometric View

Front View Side View

Figure 7: Orthogonal View of UAV Design

2.1 Detail Dimensions

Dimensions
Fuselage
Length (m) 2.5
Diameter (m) 0.3
Wing
Span, b (m) 3.9
Chord, c (m) 0.4
2
Area, S (m ) 1.475
Horizontal Tail

23
 Span (m) 1.0
Chord (m) 0.25
Area, Sh (m2) 0.25
Vertical Tail
Span (m) 0.4
Chord (m) 0.26
2
Area, Sv (m ) 0.134

Table 6: Detail dimensions of the UAV

2.2 Aircraft specifications

Wing
Shape Straight & Anhedral
Aspect Ratio 8.39
Airfoil NACA 4412
Horizontal Tail
Shape Straight
Aspect Ratio 4.00
Airfoil NACA 0012
Vertical Tail
Shape Swept & Dorsal Fin
Aspect Ratio 1.19
Airfoil NACA 0012

Table 7: UAV specifications

24
2.3 Mission Profile

Figure 8: Mission profile for cloud seeding

Mission profile:
Endurance (s) 10800
Range (m) 8,000

x1 (m) 0
x2 (m) 3,000
x3 (m) 5,000
x4 (m) 8,000

y1 (m) 0
y2 (m) 2,700
y3 (m) 2,700
y4 (m) 0

t1 (s) 0
t2 (s) 310
t3 (s) 9410
t4 (s) 9,720
Time reserved (s) 1,080

Table 8: Mission profile

25
 The given endurance for this mission profile of the cloud seeding UAV is maximum of 3
hours and the range is typically resides between 3000 and 9000m for a medium-altitude long
endurance (MALE) UAV (Jung, 2019). The altitude of 2700m was given for the cloud seeding
operation where the average duration for the cloud seeding treatment period is 1.28 hours
(William, 1989). However, the cruising time for this particular UAV that have been designed is 2
hours and 32 minutes thus the operations can be executed more efficiently. 10% of the 3 hours
endurance was stored for emergency purposes thus the 18 minutes of the flight time is excluded
from our mission profile endurance.

2.4 Classifications of aircraft

Aircraft’s Category Class I

Mission’s Category Category B

Table 9: UAV Classifications

UAV designed is placed under Class I due to its small and light body and its mission
category of Category B in order to analyse its conditions during cloud seeding operation in its
cruising phase.

2.5 Parameters of aircraft

Parameters Value Unit (SI Unit)

Centre of gravity & Mass
Weight, W 490.5 N
Gravity force, g 9.81 N/kg
Mass, m 50 kg
Centre of gravity, xcg 1.19 m
Mass moment of inertia
Ix 13.76 kg.m2
Iy 16.181 kg.m2
Iz 29.091 kg.m2
Ixz 1.058 kg.m2

26
 Atmospheric Conditions
Density, ρ 0.9386 kg/m3
Mach Number, M 0.08
Forward Speed, U0 27.78 m/s
Dynamic Pressure, Q0 362.1721381 Pa

Table 10: UAV’s parameters

3.l Lift & Drag coefficients

Angle of Lift Drag L/D Lift (N) Drag (N)

Attack, α Coefficient, Coefficient,
CL CD
-4 -0.1011 0.0287 -3.53 -15.44 4.37
-3 -0.0143 0.0267 -0.53 -2.18 4.08
-2 0.0739 0.0256 2.89 11.29 3.90
-1 0.1639 0.0253 6.48 25.02 3.86
0 0.2561 0.0259 9.87 39.10 3.96
1 0.3502 0.0275 12.76 53.47 4.19
2 0.4482 0.0299 14.97 68.43 4.57
3 0.5413 0.0334 16.22 82.65 5.09
4 0.6389 0.0376 16.98 97.55 5.74
5 0.7405 0.0429 17.26 113.07 6.55
6 0.8423 0.0493 17.07 128.60 7.53
7 0.9399 0.0563 16.68 143.51 8.60
8 1.0376 0.0643 16.14 158.42 9.82
9 1.1394 0.0736 15.48 173.97 11.24
10 1.2368 0.0835 14.82 188.83 12.74
11 1.3335 0.0943 14.14 203.60 14.40
12 1.4286 0.1060 13.47 218.13 16.19
13 1.5225 0.1186 12.83 232.46 18.11
14 1.6148 0.1321 12.22 246.54 20.17

Table 11: Coefficients at different angle of attack

27
 Lift coefficient vs Angle of Attack
1.8
1.6
1.4

Lift Coefficient, CL 1.2

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-5 0 5 10 15
-0.2
Angle of Attack, α

Figure 9: Graph of lift coefficient vs angle of attack

Drag Coefficient vs Angle of Attack

0.14

0.12
Drag Coefficient, CD

0.10

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0.00
-5 0 5 10 15
Angle of Attack, α

Figure 10: Graph of drag coefficient vs angle of attack

28
3.2 Sideforce, roll moment & yaw moment

Beta CFy CMx CMz

-15 0.0263 0.00026 -0.0136
-7.5 0.0144 0.00020 -0.0074
0 0.0000 0.00001 0.0000
7.5 -0.0144 -0.00019 0.0074
15 -0.0263 -0.00025 0.0136

Table 12: Force and moment at different sideslip angle

Sideforce vs Sideslip Angle

0.0300

0.0200

0.0100
Sideforce, Cy

0.0000
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
-0.0100

-0.0200

-0.0300
Angle of Sideslip, β (°)

Figure 11: Graph of sideforce vs sideslip angle

29
 Roll Moment vs Sideslip Angle
0.0003

0.0002

Roll Moment, Cmx 0.0001

0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
-0.0001

-0.0002

-0.0003
Angle of Sideslip, β (°)

Figure 12: Graph of roll moment vs sideslip angle

Yaw Moment vs Sideslip Angle

0.02

0.015

0.01
Yaw Moment, Cmz

0.005

0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
-0.005

-0.01

-0.015

-0.02
Angle of Sideslip, β (°)

Figure 13: Graph of yaw moment vs sideslip angle

30
 4. Flight Dynamics Coefficients (Cruising Conditions)

Longitudinal CL CD Clα Cdα Cmα Cmα̇ Cmq CLM CDM CMM Cmδe

0.74
M=0.08 0.043 5.686 0.465 -0.930 -2.731 -7.695 0 0 0 -0.606
1

Table 13: Longitudinal flight dynamics coefficient

Lateral Cyβ Clβ Cnβ Clp Cnp Clr Cnr Clδα Cnδα Clδr Cnδr Cyβtail

-
M=0.08 -0.002 0.057 -0.948 -0.093 0.192 -0.033 0.008 0 0.013 -0.279 -0.199
0.110

Table 14: Lateral flight dynamics coefficient

31
5.0 Flight Dynamic Derivative

i) Longitudinal Derivative

Figure 14: Formula of Longitudinal Derivative

The data from the Table 10 inserted into the provided formula from the Text Book, Flight Stability
and Automatic Control to obtain the longitudinal derivates

32
 Longitudinal
Derivative Value Unit
-1
Xu -0.03300 s
Zu -0.56962 s-1
Mu 0

-1
Xw 0.28448 s
Zw -0.30131 s-1
Mw -0.44207 ms
Zalpha -8.37041
Xwdot 0
Zwdot 0
Mwdot -0.00935 m-1

Xq 0
Zq 0
Mq -0.73163 s-1

Table 15: Flight data for longitudinal derivative

ii) Lateral Derivative

Figure 15: Formula for Lateral Derivative

The data from the Table 11 inserted into the provided formula from the Text Book, Flight Stability
and Automatic Control to obtain the lateral derivates.

33
 Lateral
Derivative Value Unit
Yb -1.1753 m/s2
Nb 4.0541 s-2
Lb -0.2256 s-2

Yp 0 m/s
Np -0.9838 s-1
-1
Lp -10.0722 s

Yr 0 m/s
-1
Nr -3.4039 s
Nr(app.) -0.3491 s-1
Lr 2.0408 s-1
Yda m/s2
Ydr 0 m/s2

-2
Nda 0 s
-2
Ndr -19.9494 s

Lda 1.2237 s-2

Ldr 1.8804 s-2

Table 16: Flight data for lateral derivative

6.0 State Space

i) Longitudinal
State Space Matrix
-0.03300 0.28448 0 -9.81
-0.56962 -0.30131 27.78000 0
0.00532 -0.43925 -0.99128 0
0 0 1 0

Table 17: State space for longitudinal

- Compute using MATLAB

34
 Figure 16: compute using MATLAB

- Eigen value for short and phugoid

λ1,2 -1.0144 ± 3.4075 i Short
λ3,4 -0.0126 ± 0.4419 i Phugoid

35
ii) Lateral
State Space Matrix
-0.0423 0 -1.0000 -0.3531
-0.2256 -10.0722 2.0408 0
4.0541 -0.9838 -3.4039 0
0 1 0 0

Table 18: State space for lateral derivative

- Compute using MATLAB

Figure 17: Compute using MATLAB

- Eigen value for roll, spiral and Dutch roll.

λroll -9.7744 Roll

λspiral -0.0665 Spiral
Dutch
λDR -1.8387 ± 0.8344
i Roll

36
Natural Frequency, Damping Ratio, Time Constants, Settling Time, Time to Double/Half
Amplitude

Longitudinal Lateral
Phugoid Unit Short Unit Dutch Roll Unit
ωn 0.448498 rad/s 3.5357 rad/s 2.0171 rad/s
ζ 0.0368 - 0.1828 - 0.0955 -

Unit
Step 1.1226 1.7934 1.3518
Ts 181.8061 s 4.6418 s 15.5702 s
Tr 2.3241 s 0.3529 s 0.5542 s
Td 2.2793 s 0.3153 s 0.5248 s
Tp 7.0094 s 0.9038 s 1.5646 s

Table 19: Natural Frequency, Damping Ratio, Time Constants, Settling Time, Time to Double/Half
Amplitude

1) Phugoid

Figure 18: Phugoid step response

37
Figure 19: Phugoid step response compute using MATLAB

38
2) Short period

Figure 20: Short step response

39
 Figure 21: Short period step response compute using MATLAB

3) Dutch Roll

Figure 22: Dutch roll step response

40
Figure 23: Dutch roll step response compute using MATLAB

41
Step Input

1. Elevator Step Response

Figure 24: Elevator step response

Figure 25: Elevator step response compute using MATLAB

42
2. Aileron

Figure 26: Aileron step response

Figure 27: Aileron step response compute using MATLAB

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3. Rudder

Figure 28: Rudder step response

Figure 29: Rudder step response compute using MATLAB

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4.0 DISCUSSION

To initiate the designing process of the UAV, the parameters are first recognized through
the given mission requirements. The UAV’s main mission is to cloud seeding which requires it to
travel long distance and last longer in flight at high altitude. However, the altitude required for the
UAV is not considered a high altitude to the extent of the UAV having to experience low
temperature. After all the parameters are applied, the design of the UAV is developed using the
software, OpenVSP. The design is represented in three-view and isometric drawing in figure. The
specification design of the UAV is basically built around the mass required which is 50 kg which
gave us the wingspan, length and height of 3.9 m, 2.5 m and 1.02 m respectively. The design
specifications were also determined for best flight performance but will change overtime
throughout the study to improve the flight stability longitudinally and laterally. Our UAV was
identified as class I since it is a small in size and for this case, since we study for the cruising or
loitering condition, our UAV can be identified as category B.

The study continued with analytical study of the UAV by simulation in OpenVSP with
tool, VSPAERO. The simulation allowed us to evaluate the flight performance of the UAV to
decide if the design is good enough in terms of lifting capability and drag minimization through
the plot of CL versus α, CD versus α and L/D versus α. We also identified the stall characteristics
that allows us to build a mission profile desired. After the flight performance is optimized, the
longitudinal and lateral stability were evaluated through the plot of CY versus β, Cm versus α, Cl
versus β and Cn versus β. In order to make sure the UAV is longitudinally stable, the plot of Cm
versus α were made sure to have negative slope and positive value of Cmo and α when intersected
with polar line, but if otherwise, the design must be corrected by moving the aerodynamic centre
of wing closer to centre of gravity. Besides that, we adjusted the horizontal tail initial angle by
decreasing it. For laterally stable, we made sure the plot CY versus β and Cl versus β to be negative
slope and Cn versus β to be positive slope with all polar line intersecting 0 at both axes. To make
sure CF versus β stable, the tail area was increased. Next, for Cl versus β to be stable, anhedral
angle was added to the wing and empennages centre of gravity were lowered by adding dorsal fin
as shown in Figure 27. Lastly, to fix Cn versus β stability, we added more sweep angle to vertical
tail and added winglet to the wing. However, the correction of longitudinal and lateral stability
will reduce the flight performance such as increasing the vertical tail area will increase wetted

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area. This resulted with increase of skin friction drag. Therefore, longitudinal and lateral instability
correction must not be overdone and can only be done minimally.

Figure 30: Dorsal fin (in circle)

The important flight dynamic coefficients were obtained from the previous polar by taking
the value of the slope. However, there are also some coefficients which had no reference polar,
hence, we substitute it with formula from the flight dynamic textbook. These coefficients allowed
us to find all the flight dynamic derivatives through equations. Note that the purpose of the
derivatives was to help us find the state space form of longitudinal and lateral mode which gave
us the eigenvalues through stability matrix by MATLAB computation. The reason for using
MATLAB is to get the exact eigenvalues for more accurate result. These eigenvalues will
determine the phugoid, short period, spiral, roll and dutch roll mode which helped us to evaluate
the aircraft’s flying qualities.

We also plot the step response of the elevator, rudder and aileron. Firstly, we can find the
natural frequencies and damping ratios of elevator and rudder. Then, we applied the value to the
transfer function of second order system. But, since aileron did not contribute to an oscillating
motion, we determined the time constant of the UAV to find the step change equation of the aileron
angle which was converted into transform equation. The transfer function of elevator, rudder and
aileron will be computed in MATLAB to plot each of the step response. From the step response
plot, we can determine the settling time by 2%, rise time, peak time, and time to half amplitude
except for aileron’s step response as it did not have oscillation.

Based on the eigenvalues obtained, we can evaluate each mode for its flying quality in
accordance to MIL-F-8785C. As mentioned earlier, our UAV is class I and category B. Hence, we
only need to observe these specifications on each mode. For phugoid mode, we identified that our

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UAV is level 2. This means that the pilot needs to manually stabilize the oscillation of phugoid.
Even though it is not an excessive work, but the pilot may experience fatigue in controlling the
UAV because the cruising time is 2 hours and 37 minutes as calculated in mission profile. For
short period mode, we found out that it is level 3. This means that it took longer for the short period
oscillation to recover to steady state which may harm the flight performance. Next, for spiral mode,
we observed it to be level 3. This is very harmful particularly during cruising at high speed. Thus,
it needs an excessive pilot’s control as naturally it cannot sustain a constant path without spiralling.
Meanwhile, the roll and dutch roll mode were evaluated as level 1 considering these two modes
won’t affect the stability much during cruising.

The overall level of the UAV is level 3 since the UAV still lack natural damper in the
design aspects thus fully relies on the pilot. Fortunately, there are few improvements that can be
done to get the UAV to level 1 by adjusting the design. All this UAV needed is to obtain better
phugoid, short period and spiral mode which are very crucial in steady level flight. To get phugoid
and short period mode to a higher level, we can vary the centre of gravity. This can be done through
weight placement in the fuselage to distribute it properly so that the centre of gravity is moved
forward. Besides that, we can also increase the horizontal tail area to increase the wetted area.
These design adjustments will contribute towards the natural damping effect on the UAV. Next,
to get spiral mode to higher level, first, we can increase the dihedral effect. Instead of anhedral
effect which was done initially, we can convert to dihedral effect and add more dihedral angle on
wing as it will stabilize spiral mode while maintaining the roll stability. However, this can also
reduce the stability of dutch roll. Secondly, we can decrease the size of vertical tail which will
increase the spiral stability but also reduce the dutch roll stability. Unfortunately, the design
geometric changes cannot be done simply as it can reduce the flight performance and other mode.
These changes are not preferred by most designer as it can cause a dilemma in satisfying the flying
quality specifications. Therefore, an automatic system is much preferred to be applied in the UAV
since the technology has been used widely in multiple application such as cars and motorcycle. To
stabilize the phugoid and short period mode, we can apply the active control stability augmentation
system which can improve the instability without degrading the flight performance with less pilot’s
workload. To stabilize, the spiral mode, we can apply a yaw damper in the UAV’s control system
so that the spiral mode is artificially dampened. In fact, this can be done without reducing the dutch
roll stability.

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5.0 CONCLUSION

The UAV’s design was developed and improved which satisfies most of the flying
quality specifications except phugoid, short period and spiral mode. However, these modes are
very crucial in determining whether the UAV can perform the required task which involves
cruising in long range. Fortunately, the source of the mode instability was inspected, studied and
provided with solution in improving the mode naturally in flight. Most of the solutions require us
to change the geometric of the design. However, these changes may reduce flight performance
and other mode’s stability. Therefore, we can always rely on technology to automatically
stabilize the UAV since it is widely available. In fact, it will reduce the workload of the pilot in
controlling the UAV allowing it to fly steadily during cruising. In conclusion, the observation for
the study of this UAV was done properly by building the design from scratch to analysing the
flight dynamic that allows us to identify the UAV’s mode instability and also coming out with
some solutions at the end.

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6.0 REFERENCES

1. Robert C. Nelson. (1989) Flight Stability and Automatic Control, Michigan, US: McGraw-
Hill

2. Amr E. Mohamed. (2017, Mar 27) Feedback Control Systems Performance and
Characteristics [Presentation slide] Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/amrelsayedm/modern-control-lec-03-feedback-control-systems-
performance-and-characteristics.

3. Antonio Filippone. (2008, April) Comprehensive analysis of transport aircraft flight

performance [Research paper] Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239374135_Comprehensive_analysis_of_transpo
rt_aircraft_flight_performance

4 Antonio Filippone. (2012, January) Advanced Aircraft Flight Performance, Manchester,

UK: Cambridge University Press

5. Khin Zaw Linn. (2019, Feb 05) Design, Construction and Flight Performance on T-Tail
Airplane [Research Paper] Retrieved from: http://ijrp.org/paper-detail/497

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7.0 APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: Derivatives of longitudinal stability

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APPENDIX 2: Derivatives of lateral stability

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