AAE 354

Lesson 01-1

Flight Dynamics

Introduction
 Flight Dynamics

Applied engineering subject

Flight
Mechanics

Flight
Performance Aeroelasticity
Dynamics
 Flight Mechanics
• Performance
– Performance characteristics (range, endurance, rate of
climb, takeoff and landing distances, flight path
optimization)
• Flight Dynamics
– Motion of the aircraft due to disturbances
– Stability and Control
• Aeroelasticity
– Static and Dynamic Aeroelastic phenomena (control
reversal, wing divergence, flutter, aeroelastic
response)
 Need
• Is the aircraft safe to fly?
• Is the pilot comfortable with it’s flying
characteristics?

Flying Qualities
 Aspects of Stability
• Stability—The inherent quality of an airplane to correct for conditions
that may disturb its equilibrium, and to return or to continue on the
original flightpath. It is primarily an airplane design characteristic.

• Controllability—The capability of an airplane to respond to the pilot’s

control, especially with regard to flightpath and attitude. It is the quality
of the airplane’s response to the pilot’s control application when
maneuvering the airplane, regardless of its stability characteristics.

• Maneuverability—The quality of an airplane that permits it to be

maneuvered easily and to withstand the stresses imposed by
maneuvers. It is governed by the airplane’s weight, inertia, size and
location of flight controls, structural strength, and powerplant. It too is
an airplane design characteristic.
 FAR Part 23
• “...the airplane must be safely controllable and
and maneuverable during – (1) take off; (2)
climb; (3) level flight; (4) dive; and (5) landing
(power on and off) (with the wing flaps
extended and retracted).”
• “The airplane must be longitudinally,
directionally, and laterally stable.”
 Inherent Stability and the Early
Machines
• Pioneer airplane and glider builders who came before the Wright
brothers recognized the importance of airplane stability.
• They had discovered that some degree of inherent stability in flight
could be obtained with an appropriate combination of:
– Center of gravity location (Lilienthal)
– Wing dihedral angle or lateral area distribution (Langley and
Lanchester)
– Aft mounted tail surfaces (Cayley and Pénaud)
• Very little thought had been given to the problem of control except
for the provision of horizontal and vertical rudders (Langley)
Dihedral Angle- Boeing 777
 Stable vs. Unstable Flight

Lilienthal’s Flyer
Stable Flight

Wright Flyer
Unstable Flight
 Stable vs. Unstable Flight
• Flight Too Stable for Lilienthal
– Not maneuverable
– On August 9, 1896, Lilienthal was killed when
he stalled and crashed to the ground while
gliding.
• Unstable Flight, a success for Wrights
– Problem was one of “CONTROL”
 Types of Stability

• Static Stability: Initial response to a disturbance

• Dynamic Stability: Ability to damp out oscillations
Static Stability
 Static Pitch Stability of Aircraft

The tendency of an aircraft to return to its

original flight attitude after being disturbed in
pitch by an external force
Spring-Mass System
 Aircraft Static Stability
• Static Stability—The initial tendency that the airplane
displays after its equilibrium is disturbed
➢ Positive Static Stability—The initial tendency of the
airplane to return to the original state of
equilibrium after being disturbed
➢ Negative Static Stability—The initial tendency of
the airplane to continue away from the original
state of equilibrium after being disturbed
➢ Neutral Static Stability—The initial tendency of the
airplane to remain in a new condition after its
equilibrium has been disturbed
 Static Stability of Aircraft
• Most aircraft (apart from high performance
fighters) are statically stable
• Static stability implies:-
– All the forces and moments around the aircraft’s cg at
a fixed flight condition and attitude are balanced
– After any small perturbation in flight attitude the
aircraft returns to its equilibrium position
• The equilibrium position is usually called the trim
position
 Dynamic Stability

• The characteristics of an aircraft that,

when disturbed from an original state of
steady flight or motion, allow it to damp
the oscillations using its inherent restoring
moments and gradually return to its
original state

• Deals with time history of the motion

Dynamic Stability
Dynamic Stability
 Approach

Static Stability
Sign
Stability Derivative

Dynamic Equations
Solution
Stability of Motion
 References
• Robert C. Nelson, “Flight Stability and
Automatic Control”, McGraw Hill, 2nd ed,
1998.
• Etkin, B.: Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight,
Dover, New York, 2005
• Bandu N. Pamadi, “Performance, Stability,
Dynamics and Control of Airplanes”, AIAA,
1998
 Industrial Standards
• FAR Part 23: Airworthiness standards: Normal, utility,
acrobatic, and commuter category.
• FAR Part 25: Airworthiness standards: Transport category
airplanes
• MIL-F-8785C: Flying qualities of piloted airplanes. (pre-
1996)
• MIL-STD-1797A (now MIL-HDBK-1797): Flying qualities of
piloted airplanes (post-1996)
• USAF Stability and Control Datcom
• MIL-DTL-9490E: Flight control systems, design, installation
and test of piloted aircraft, General specification for
(Superseded by SAE94900)
 Web Resources
• www.aerostudents.com
• www.freevideolectures.com
• www.princeton.edu/~stengel/MAE331Lecture
s.html
• http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/101106043/
 Course Information

• Instructor: Dr. Jamshed Riaz

• Phone: 0321-8545029
• E-mail: jamshed.riaz@ist.edu.pk
• Consultation: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
 Learning Objectives
• Introduce students to the fundamental
concepts of atmospheric flight dynamics
• Enable students to analytically estimate static
and dynamic stability derivatives
• Enable students to study the stability of
longitudinal and lateral motions using the
linearized equations
 Course Goals
• Overview principles of flight and the
classical/modern theory of stability and
control
• Present notation for flight mechanics
variables, forces, and moments
• Derive classical, uncoupled rigid body
equations of motion used for Stability &
Control analysis of aircraft
 Course Goals (Cont’d)
• Define and explain the static and dynamic
stability and control derivatives
• Understand the concepts of equilibrium,
neutral point, trim, etc.
• Introduce transfer function representation,
dynamic stability, and modes of motion
• Understand flying handling qualities
 Grades
• All tests will be closed book and closed notes.
• [1] Quizzes & Assignments 15%
• [2] OHT-1 20%
• [3] OHT-2 20%
• [5] Finals 45%
Welcome to Flight Dynamics