AKD20503 – AUTOFLIGHT SYSTEM

NAME: MUHAMMAD IZZAT FARRIS BIN MOHD NADZRI

CLASS: 4AVM1

ID: 53105121004
ASSIGNMENT 1

Briefly describe the Theory of flight (Fixedwing) as per sub-topics.

THEORY OF FLIGHT (FIXED WING)

1.1 Forces on the aircraft.

 There are 4 force acting on aircraft that is Lift, Weight (Gravity), Thrust and
Drag.
 Lift - Defy the weight-down force that an airfoil experiences as a result of
the dynamic action of the air. Act in a way that is opposite to the flight
route through the Center of Lift (CL). The Bernoulli's Principle can be used
to explain the majority of the lift produced by the airfoil. The speed of the
aeroplane has a direct impact on the quantity of lift. The amount of lift
acting on it rises as it speeds up. The angle of attack can also be changed
to alter lift, however if the angle of attack is changed excessively, the
aircraft can stall.
 Weight - The aircraft's total weight. Due to gravity, it pushed the aircraft
downward. Act downward through the aircraft's Center of Gravity to
oppose lift (CG)
 Thrust - Oppose drag. It is a forward force generated by the engine, rotor,
or propeller.
 Drag - Act in opposition to faith and to the relative wind by moving
backward. The wing, fuselage, and other projecting items are to blame.
Drag might be caused by a parasite or it can be caused by an inciting
factor. The creation of lift results in parasitic drag, which is brought on by
all of the aircraft's non-aerodynamic aspects, whereas inducing drag is
created by this.
1.2 Stability

 Equilibrium—All opposing forces acting on the airplane are balanced; (i.e.,

steady, unaccelerated flight conditions).
 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. (move-return)
 Negative Static Stability—The initial tendency of the airplane to continue away
from the original state of equilibrium after being disturbed. (move-continue)
 Neutral Static Stability—The initial tendency of the airplane to remain in a new
condition after its equilibrium has been disturbed. (move-stop)
 It is described as the first propensity an aeroplane exhibits after being jarred
out of equilibrium. The fact that an aeroplane can move in any direction and
needs to be controllable in pitch, roll, and yaw makes maintaining stability
while in flight a little more difficult. Engineers must trade off controllability,
manoeuvrability, and stability when creating an aeroplane. The three axes of
motion of the aeroplane add to the difficulty. Both too much and too little
stability are bad for mobility and controllability, respectively.
Static Stability
 Static stability is the initial tendency of the aircraft.
 Static stability can be describe as positive, negative and neutral.
Positive static stability
 Tendency to return to original position. The abrupt surge of air against the
fuselage and control surfaces during a yaw or skid swiftly propels the aircraft
back in the desired direction.

Neutral static stability

 Tendency to remain at new position. When a pilot turns an aeroplane and
then releases the controls, the aircraft stays in the turn without rolling out or
becoming steeper.

Negative static stability

 Tendency to continue away from original position. When the controls are
released when an aircraft is rolling at a high bank angle, the aircraft will
continue to roll.

Dynamic stability

 Dynamic stability refer to aircraft response over time after its equilibrium is
disturbed.
Three type of dynamic stability are:
 Positive Dynamic Stability— Over time, the motion of the displace object
decreases in amplitude and return to the original state of equilibrium.
(displace-slowly stop)
 Negative Dynamic Stability— Over time, the motion of the displace object
increases. (displace-increase)
  Neutral Dynamic Stability— Once displaced, the displace object neither
decrease nor increase in amplitude. (displace-maintain)

Longitudinal stability ( pitching )

 In a variety of aeroplane flight settings, it is believed that certain variables

have the greatest impact on longitudinal stability about the lateral axis. An
aircraft is stable about its lateral axis thanks to longitudinal stability. In flight, it
causes the airplane's nose to pitch up and down. An aeroplane that is
longitudinally unstable has a propensity to gradually sink or ascend into an
extremely steep dive or ascent, or even stall.

Static longitudinal stability or instability in an airplane is dependent upon

three factors:
1. Location of the wing with respect to the center of gravity.
2. Location of the horizontal tail surfaces with respect to the center of gravity.
3. The area or size of the tail surfaces.

 Most aeroplanes are made with the wing's CL located behind the CG. As a
result, the aircraft becomes "nose heavy," and to maintain balance and
prevent the nose from repeatedly tilting downward, a small downward push
must be applied to the horizontal stabiliser.The horizontal stabiliser is set at a
little negative AOA to counteract this nose-heaviness. The downward thrust
created in this way keeps the tail down and balances out the "heavy" nose.
Lateral Stability (rolling)
 The nose of the aeroplane rises or falls in relation to the lateral axis, which is
an imaginary line connecting the wing tips. This axis is moved by adjusting the
elevators. An aircraft's propensity to withstand roll is known as lateral stability.
 Impact of dihedral. When an aeroplane rolls, causing a side-slip (assuming no
rudder), dihedral is visible. Each wing experiences a different angle of attack
as a result of one of the wings being lower than the other. In contrast to the
higher wing, the lower wing has a greater angle of attack, which helps it to
produce more lift and rise. The end outcome is that the aircraft rolls away from
the side-slip, resisting roll and making an effort to level the wings. Using the
rudder will smooth out the turn and counteract these pressures in addition to
others, including adverse yaw.
 Effect of a swept wing. Side-slips cause the upwind swept wing to experience
more direct relative wind, which causes a roll back towards wings level.
  The term "lateral stability" refers to stability about the plane's longitudinal axis,
which runs from the nose to the tail. In the event that one wing becomes lower
than the wing on the opposite side of the aircraft, this stabilises the lateral or
rolling action.

Dihedral
 The wings are constructed at an angle of one to three degrees above the
longitudinal axis. A "dihedral" or modest V-shaped angle is created where the
wings on either side of the aircraft attach to the fuselage.Each wing's angle
above a line parallel to the lateral axis, which is used to calculate dihedral, is
measured.
Dihedral for sweepback
 A sweptback wing has a leading edge that slopes backward. The low wing
presents its leading edge at an angle that is perpendicular to the relative
airflow in the event that an aircraft with sweepback slips or drops a wing as a
result of disturbance. As a result, the aircraft's low wing gains more lift, rises,
and returns to its initial flight attitude. A sweptback wing has a leading edge
that slopes backward. The low wing presents its leading edge at an angle that
is perpendicular to the relative airflow in the event that an aircraft with
sweepback slips or drops a wing as a result of disturbance. As a result, the
aircraft's low wing gains more lift, rises, and returns to its initial flight attitude.
Directional Stability
 A second factor in directional stability is sweepback. The right wing moves
forward and displays a longer leading edge perpendicular to the relative
airflow when turbulence or rudder application causes the aeroplane to yaw to
the left. The right wing's airspeed rises and thus develops greater drag than
the left wing. By pulling back due to the extra drag on the right wing, the
aircraft returns to its previous course.

Keel effect and weight distribution

 Aerial vehicles usually have a tendency to turn their longitudinal axis into the
relative wind and apply a stabilising force on them laterally about their
longitudinal axis. The fuselage weight functions as a pendulum to restore the
plane to its original attitude if one wing of the aircraft dips. The majority of the
keel area lies above and below the centre of gravity (CG) in lateral stable
aircraft. In other words, if an aircraft leans to one side, the weight of the
aircraft and the airflow pressure exerted against the upper part of the keel
area (both operating about the CG) tend to roll the aircraft back to wings-level
flying.
Vertical stability
 Yawing or directional stability refers to the plane's capacity to maintain
stability about its vertical axis (the sideways moment). It is simple to do by
configuring the plane's vertical fin and the fuselage's sides to be behind the
centre of gravity. It is clear that the forces fore and aft would be in balance
and there would be little to no directional movement if the exact same amount
of surface were exposed to the wind in front of the pivot point as in back.
Similar to this, while designing an aircraft, the designer must make the side
surface larger aft than ahead of the centre of gravity.
  The motion is delayed and stopped by the fin if an aeroplane is flying straight
and a gust of air from the side causes it to rotate slightly about its vertical axis
(i.e., to the right). This is because the air is striking the left side of the fin at an
angle while the aeroplane is rotating to the right. This puts pressure on the left
side of the fin, preventing it from spinning and slowing the yaw of the aircraft.
This causes the aeroplane to turn into the relative wind.

1.3 Control axis

 The lateral axis, longitudinal axis, and vertical axis are the three distinct axes
on which an aircraft moves. The three axes would make it possible to control
the aeroplane while it is in the air, and they are all perpendicular to one
another and act from the centre of gravity.
 The rotating motions and the corresponding axis are:-
o Roll (wing down or up)- Longitudinal axis (wing tip to wingtip)
o Pitch (Nose up or Down)- Lateral axis (Nose to Tail)
o Yaw (Nose left or right)- Vertical axis (C of G up)

1.3 Primary Control

The Primary control surfaces on the aircraft are:
– The two AILERONS on the two wings
– The two ELEVATORS
– The one RUDDER on the Tail
Ailerons effect:

Rudder effect
• The Rudder on the tail affects the Yaw which also has an effect on the
Heading.
• On larger aircraft, there are many more control surfaces, typically:
– An Outboard Aileron and an Inboard Aileron
– An Outboard Elevator and an Inboard Elevator
– Upper and Lower sections of the Rudder as well as others.
Stabilator
 In essence, a stabiliser is a single-piece horizontal stabiliser that pivots
around a single hinge. The stabilator's trailing edge is raised and the
airplane's nose is pitched up when the control column is pulled back.
 The trailing edge of the stabilator is lowered and the airplane's nose is pitched
down when the control column is pushed forward. Antiservo tabs are
incorporated on the trailing edge of stabilators to decrease sensitivity and
increase the force necessary to move the stabilator in order to prevent the
pilot from over-controlling. Because stabilators pivot around a central hinge
point, they are extremely sensitive to control inputs and aerodynamic loads.
On some aircraft, the stabilator pivots around the rear spar. A jackscrew
positioned on the stabilator's leading edge is used to move the object.

Elevon
 It is a type of aircraft control surface that combines the capabilities of the
aileron and elevator (pitch control) (roll control). It is frequently employed on
aircraft that are tailless or lack a horizontal stabiliser.
 Elevons are installed on each side of the aircraft at the trailing edge of the
wing.
o When moved in the same direction (up or down) they will cause a
pitching force (nose up or nose down).
o When moved differentially, (one up, one down) they will cause a rolling
force to be applied.
Ruddervator
 - are aircraft control surfaces that combine rudder (yaw control) and elevator
operations (pitch control). typically utilised by V-tailed planes.
 are installed on each side of the aircraft V trailing edge tail
– When moved in the same direction (up or down) they will cause a
pitching force (nose up or nose down).
– When moved differentially, (one up, one down) they will cause a
yawing force to be applied

Ruddervators control
1.5 Secondary control

• The secondary flight control device is used in addition to the 3 primary control
device.
• They are:
– Trimming devices – Trim Tab which is fitted to the trailing edge of one
of primary control. It is controlled separately.
– Control force reducing device - Ballance or Antiservo Tab which is
fitted to the trailing edge of one of primary control. It is move
automatically or indirectly.
– Lift control device – May consist of Flaps, Slats, Spoilers and Speed
Brake.
• Flap – Used to increase lift at slow speed during take-off and landing or
increase drag for steep rates of descent.

Stabilizing effect
 Slat – Used to increase lift at high angle of attack and has a stabilizing effect
of airflow over the wing
 Spoiler – Wing mounted device which spoiling lift. They are operated
mechanically before landing to dump lift. Ground Spoiler are operated after
landing only.
 Speed Brake – are wing or fuselage mounted device. It act as an
aerodynamic brakes. Used to increase rates of descent or enable steeper
dives or improve maneuverability of high speed aircraft.

1.6 Trim tabs

• Trim tab are attached to the trailing edge of the elevator.
• Most trim tabs are manually operated by a small, vertically mounted control
wheel or trim crank may be found in some aircraft.
• The flight deck control includes a trim tab position indicator. Placing the trim
control in the full nose-down position moves the trim tab to its full up position.
With the trim tab up and into the airstreams, the airflow over the horizontal tail
 surface tends to force the trailing edge of the elevator down. This causes the
tail of the airplane to move up, and the nose to move down

Balance Tabs
• The control forces may be excessively high in some aircraft, and, in order to
decrease them, the manufacturer may use balance tabs.
• They look like trim tabs and are hinged in approximately the same places as
trim tabs.
• The difference between the two is that the balancing tab is coupled to the
control surface rod so that when the primary control surface is moved in any
direction, the tab automatically moves in the opposite direction.
• The airflow striking the tab counterbalances some of the air pressure against
the primary control surface, and enables the pilot to move more easily and
hold the control surface in position.
• If the linkage between the balance tab and the fixed surface is adjustable from
the flight deck, the tab acts as a combination trim and balance tab that can be
adjusted to any desired deflection.
AntiServo Tabs
• Antiservo tabs work in the same manner as balance tabs except, instead of
moving in the opposite direction, they move in the same direction as the
trailing edge of the stabilator.
• In addition to decreasing the sensitivity of the stabilator, an antiservo tab also
functions as a trim device to relieve control pressure and maintain the
stabilator in the desired position.
• The fixed end of the linkage is on the opposite side of the surface from the
horn on the tab; when the trailing edge of the stabilator moves up, the linkage
forces the trailing edge of the tab up and vise versa.

Ground Adjustable Tabs

• Many small aircraft have a non movable metal trim tab on the rudder.
• This tab is bent in one direction or the other while on the ground to apply a
trim force to the rudder.
• The correct displacement is determined by trial and error.
 • Usually, small adjustments are necessary until the aircraft no longer skids left
or right during normal cruising flight.

1.7 Force during turns

• If the forces acting on the airplane actually could be seen, two forces (lift and
weight) would be apparent, and if the airplane were in a bank it would be
apparent that lift did not act directly opposite to the weight, it now acts in the
direction of the bank.

Centripetal Forces
 Lift acts both upward and inward into the centre of the turn as the aircraft
banks. Therefore, to turn, an aeroplane needs a sideward force. This force is
provided in a typical turn by banking the aircraft, which causes lift to be
applied both upward and inward. Two components at right angles to one
another make up the force of lift during a turn. The "vertical component of lift"
is a component that operates vertically and counter to gravity. The "horizontal
component of lift," also known as centripetal force, is a component that moves
horizontally in the direction of the turn's centre. The force that deviates the
aircraft from a direct flight path is known as the horizontal component of lift.
 Centrifugal force, which behaves similarly to the horizontal component of lift,
is the "equal and opposite reaction" of the aeroplane to a change in direction.
This explains why the rudder does not supply the force that spins the
aeroplane during a properly completed turn. An aeroplane cannot be driven or
guided like a car or a boat; it must be banked in order to turn. There is no
force that may induce an unbanked aeroplane to depart from a straight line of
flight. The fact that the aeroplane will attempt to turn anytime it is banked is
the foundation of effective directional control.
1.8 High Speed Buffet and Stall Condition
 In subsonic aerodynamics, the theory of lift is based upon the forces
generated on a body and a moving gas (air) in which it is immersed.
 Subsonic aerodynamic theory also assumes the effects of viscosity are
negligible, and classifies air as an ideal fluid, conforming to the
principles of ideal-fluid aerodynamics such as Bernoulli’s principle.
 In reality, air is compressible and viscous. While the effects of these
properties are negligible at low speeds, compressibility effects in
particular become increasingly important as speed increases.
 Compressibility is of paramount importance at speeds approaching the
speed of sound. In these speed ranges, compressibility causes a
change in the density of the air around an aircraft.

Stalls
 When an aircraft experiences a sudden loss of lift brought on by the
separation of airflow from the wing's surface due to exceeding the
critical AOA, the aircraft will stall. People frequently mistakenly believe
that an airfoil ceases creating lift when it stalls, but in reality, it is unable
to provide enough lift to maintain level flight. If it happened, the plane
would crash to the ground. When the CL rises as the AOA rises, the CL
eventually reaches a peak and then starts to decline. The CL-MAX is
the name of this peak. After exceeding the CL-MAX or Critical AOA,
the wing creates significantly less lift, although it does not entirely stop
doing so. Slow and careless controls are one sign of an impending
stall.

Stalling Speed
 Stalling speed of a particular aircraft is not a fixed value for all flight
situations.
 Aircraft always stalls at the same AOA regardless of airspeed, weight,
load factor, or density altitude.
 Each aircraft has a particular AOA where the airflow separates from the
upper surface of the wing and the stall occurs.
 This critical AOA varies from 16° to 20° depending on the aircraft’s
design.
 Each aircraft has only one specific AOA where the stall occurs.
 Three flight situations in which the critical AOA can be exceeded:-
  Low speed - Stall Speed (Bellow)
 High speed - Mach Critical (Exceed)
 Turning - Horizontal Component and Centrifugal Force

1.9 Autoflight control axis

• Autopilots types can be described as:
– Single-axis - usually operates the ailerons only and is often referred to
as a wing leveler
– Two-axis - ailerons and elevator only
– Three-axis - all the three control surfaces that is aileron, elevator and
rudder
• Rudder controls aircraft rotation about or around the vertical or yaw axis.
• Elevators control aircraft rotation about the lateral or pitch axis.
• Ailerons control aircraft rotation about the longitudinal or roll axis.

1.10 Auto stabilizers

 It a simple autopilot system which maintain the aircraft wing level.

 System component may consist of:-
o Turn Coordinator - Provide roll information to the autoflight
controller/computer
o Autoflight Controller/Computer - Act as a controller to engage the
autoflight and computer which process the input from the turn
coordinator to provide an output to the servomotor.
o Roll Servomotor - Received input from the computer to move the
aileron.
 Some wing leveler will used Rate Gyro as the sensor.
 When Autopilot Engage/Disengage(AP) Button is pushed, it will engages the
autopilot basic roll (ROL) mode which functions as a wing leveler if all logic
conditions are met.
 When pressed again, will disengage the autopilot.
1.11 Versine Generation
 Versine is a trigonometric function that has the value of one (for unity) minus
the sine of the angle in question. At the same air speed, an aeroplane that
banks will lose some of its vertical lift. Versine is the trigonometric name given
to this loss by engineers. In order to compensate for the lift that is lost as the
aircraft banks, a second nose up signal will be sent to the pitch channel
(versine) everytime the aircraft does. Nose up Compensation or Versine is the
term used to describe this loss of lift. The output of the resolver cosine
winding will be at its highest when an aeroplane is level and straight.

Autopilot system
 Since it cannot balance the weight of the aeroplane as it banks to the left
while moving forward at the same speed, lift is lost. It will start to sink if
compensation is not given. The dashed line in the vector triangle above the
aircraft's right wing depicts the amount of lost vertical lift. The lift applied 90
degrees to the wings is shown by the triangle's hypotenuse. The triangle's
vertical side stands in for the vertical part of lift. The bottom angle is the bank
angle, which is 30 degrees. Engineers therefore referred to this loss of vertical
lift as versine. The bank angle affects this loss lift. Versine, or unity less the
cosine, is the value.
Turbulence penetration
• Flight in turbulent air conditions can impose varying degrees of load on the
structure of an aircraft, and although designed to withstand such loads, it is
necessary for the pilot to adjust power and speed, and to operate the flight
control system in a manner compatible with the flight conditions.
• If an aircraft penetrates turbulent air conditions while under autopilot, the
control system will sense the turbulence as disturbances to aircraft attitude,
but in applying corrective control it is possible for additional structural loads to
be imposed
• The reason for this is that the rate of control system response tends to get out
of phase with the rate at which disturbances occur, with the result that control
response tends to become ‘stiffer’ in turbulent conditions, therefore, it its
normal to disengage the automatic flight control system
• In some systems, however, turbulence penetration may be selected as a
mode of operation such that the gain of both pitch and roll channels is
reduced thereby ‘softening’ flight control system response to turbulence

• Figure above show an aircraft autoflight control panel which cater for a
turbulence penetration.
• This TURB mode can only be selected when being in either the HDG or the
go-around mode.
• The selection of TURB reduces the AP/FD reaction speed and the bank angle
limit to 12 % and will disengaged if VOR/LOC and/or BACK COURSE modes
selected.
Modern Auto Pilot
Not all of the passenger aircraft flying today have an autopilot system.
Older and smaller general aviation aircraft especially are still hand-flown, and even
small airliners with fewer than twenty seats may also be without an autopilot as they
are used on short-duration flights with two pilots.
The installation of autopilots in aircraft with more than twenty seats is generally made
mandatory by international aviation regulations.

There are three levels of control in autopilots for smaller aircraft. A single-axis
autopilot controls an aircraft in the roll axis only; such autopilots are also known
colloquially as "wing levellers," reflecting their single capability.
A two-axis autopilot controls an aircraft in the pitch axis as well as roll, and may be
little more than a wing leveller with limited pitch oscillation-correcting ability; or it may
receive inputs from on-board radio navigation systems to provide true automatic
flight guidance once the aircraft has taken off until shortly before landing; or its
capabilities may lie somewhere between these two extremes.
A three-axis autopilot adds control in the yaw axis and is not required in many small
aircraft.
Autopilots in modern complex aircraft are three-axis and generally divide a flight
into taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise (level flight), descent, approach, and landing phases.
Autopilots that automate all of these flight phases except taxi and takeoff exist.