AIRCRAFT STABILITY & CONTROL

Aero-322 (3-0)
 Lecture No 7-9

LONGITUDINAL CONTROL

Aircraft Stability & Control : Spring 2020

 Principle of Longitudinal Control
Control deflection causes incremental lifting force on any of
A/C lifting surfaces. This causes moments about cg,
rotating the aircraft about any of the three axis.

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 Primary Controls
Primary controls

 Ailerons: Rolling moment controls – generate moments about x-axis

 Elevators: Pitching moment controls – about y-axis (also Canards)

 Rudder: Yawing moment (directional) control – about z-axis

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 Primary Controls
Primary controls – Sign Conventions
 Ailerons: +ive sign convention for left roll
 Elevators: Downward deflection is positive (Pitch down
moment)
 Canards : Canard Nose up is positive deflection
 Rudder: Left deflection is positive (Negative Yaw)

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Elevator Control

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 Elevator Control
• Longitudinal Control is achieved through Elevators
• If the A/C is flying at a trim condition
 A/C is to be flown at Higher CL at same altitude - increase a
 A/C is to be flown at Lower CL at same altitude – decrease a
Cm +

CL

-
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 Design Problem for Controls
• How Much of Control Deflection is required to
generate required response?
• What are the limitation on the control deflections?
• Whether the requirement can be met within the
allowable control deflections?

Answers lies in mathematical modeling of the control response

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 Longitudinal Control
Design of Control Surfaces is affected by
• Control Effectiveness
– It is a measure of how effective the control defection is in producing
the desired control movement
– Fn (size of elevator, Tail volume ratio)
• Hinge Moments
– Aerodynamic moments that must be overcome to rotate the control
surface
– Governs the magnitude of force required of the pilot to move the
control surface
• Aerodynamic and Mass Balancing
– Techniques to vary hinge moments to keep control stick forces with
acceptable limits of pilot

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 Mathematical Representation of Elevator Deflection
• Recall we stated that
L = Lw + Lt - at some given aw
L + DL = Lw + Lt + DLt - at a given instant
DL = DLt 𝑆𝑡
∆ 𝐶 𝐿 =𝜂 ∆𝐶𝐿
DCL QS = DCLt Qt St 𝑆 𝑡

DLt
Lw Lt

aw at

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 Elevator Effectiveness
𝑆𝑡 𝜕 𝐶𝐿
∆ 𝐶 𝐿 =𝜂 ∆𝐶𝐿 ∆𝐶𝐿 = 𝑡
∆ 𝛿𝑒
𝑆 𝑡
𝑡
𝜕 𝛿𝑒

𝑆𝑡 𝜕 𝐶 𝐿 = Elevator Effectiveness
∆ 𝐶 𝐿 =𝜂 ∆ 𝛿𝑒
𝑡

𝑆 𝜕 𝛿𝑒
=
𝑆𝑡 𝜕 𝐶 𝐿
∆ 𝐶 𝐿 =𝜂 𝑡
𝜏 ∆ 𝛿𝑒 = Flap Effectiveness Parameter
𝑆 𝜕 𝛼𝑡
Can be estimated from Figure No 2.21
𝜕 𝐶𝐿 𝑆𝑡 𝜕 𝐶 𝐿
=𝜂 𝜏 𝑡

𝜕 𝛿𝑒 𝑆 𝜕 𝛼𝑡
= Change of A/C lift with change in elevator deflection

= Change of tail lift with change in elevator deflection

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 Elevator Control Power
Incremental lift produced on the tail will generate pitching
moment about CG of A/C 𝜕𝐶 𝐿𝑡
∆ 𝑀=− 𝑙𝑡 ∆ 𝐿𝑡 ∆𝐶𝐿 = ∆ 𝛿𝑒
𝑡
𝜕 𝛿𝑒
∆ 𝐶 𝑚 𝑄𝑆𝑐=− 𝑙𝑡 ∆ 𝐶 𝐿 𝑄𝑡 𝑆𝑡
𝑡
=
= ∆ 𝐶 𝑚 =− η𝑉 𝐻 ∆ 𝐶 𝐿 τ 𝛿𝑒 𝛼𝑡

𝜕 𝐶𝑚
=−η 𝑉 𝐻 ∆ 𝐶 𝐿 τ = Elevator Control Power
𝜕 𝛿𝑒 𝛼𝑡

lt
DLt

CG
aw at

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 Elevator Control Power
• Elevator deflection does not change
slope Cm , but shifts them to achieve
different trim angles
up
• Elevator deflection changes A/C
moments as
dow
n
where the stability derivative

is called elevator control power. Larger means more effective

the control is in creating the control moment.

Designer Note:
Designer can control magnitude of elevator control power by
proper selection of volume ratio and elevator size 13
 Elevator Angle to Trim
fn 𝐶 𝐿=𝐶 𝐿 𝛼+𝐶 𝐿 𝛿 𝑒
𝛼 𝛿𝑒

fn 𝐶 𝑚=𝐶 𝑚 +𝐶 𝑚 𝛼+𝐶𝑚 𝛿𝑒
0 𝛼 𝛿𝑒

At trim condition : CL would be CLtrim & Cm = 0

Eq-1

0 Eq-2

Eq-3

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 up

down

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 Elevator Angle to Trim
Putting value of a trim from Eq-3 into Eq-2 and re-arranging
𝐶 𝑚 𝐶 𝐿 +𝐶 𝑚 𝐶 𝐿
𝛿𝑒  = − 0 𝛼
𝐸𝑞 − 4 𝛼 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑚

𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑚
𝐶 𝑚 𝐶 𝐿 − 𝐶𝑚 𝐶 𝐿
𝛿𝑒 𝛼 𝛼 𝛿𝑒

<<
= =

= = Eq-5

𝑪𝒎 𝑺𝑴
𝜹𝒆 ≅− 𝟎
+ 𝑪𝑳 𝑬𝒒 − 𝟔
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎
𝑪𝒎 𝜹𝒆
𝑪𝒎 𝜹𝒆
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎

Designer Note:
• If SM is high, large elevator deflection required to trim A/C
• For any flight phase, plug in the CL value of that segment for
calculating elevator deflection required to trim the A/C 16
 FLIGHT MEASUREMENT OF XNP
= 𝝏 𝜹𝒆 𝑺𝑴 𝑿 𝑵𝑷 − 𝑿 𝒄𝒈
≅ 𝑪𝑳 = 𝑪𝑳
𝝏 𝑪𝑳
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎
𝑪𝒎𝜹𝒆
𝑪𝒎
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎
𝜹𝒆
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎

𝑿 𝒄𝒈 𝑿 𝑵𝑷
=
𝒄 𝒄
=0

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 Flight Measurement of XNP
• To find out neutral point of an aircraft from flight tests.
– We first fix at a particular cg location and attempt to trim the aircraft
at various angles of attack or CLtrim .
– Then we change the cg location and repeat the flight test.
– From the flight test data, plot detrim/dCLtrim vs xcg/c

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 CG Limits – Fwd & Aft
• For static stability CG has to be ahead of NP
– What are the CG limits during flight?
– Most forward and Most Rearward position
• Aft CG location is based on NP
– Generally SM of 10% is maintained for conventional A/C
• Fwd CG location is based on Max elevator Deflection
– Generally Max de = + 25 degree
– Landing Phase is used as reference trim condition for CL

𝑪𝒎 𝑿 𝑵𝑷 − 𝑿 𝒄𝒈
𝜹𝒆  ≅−  𝟎
+ 𝑪𝑳
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎 − 𝑴𝒂𝒙
𝑪𝒎 𝜹𝒆
𝑪𝒎 𝜹𝒆
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎 − 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈

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 CG LIMITS – FWD & AFT
𝑿 𝒄𝒈 =𝟎.𝟑 𝑿 𝒄𝒈 =𝟎.𝟐 𝑿 𝒄𝒈 =𝟎.𝟏
• As the CG shifts forward 𝜹𝒆
– SM increases
𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎

– Large deflection required to 𝑪𝑳 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎

trim the aircraft

– SM1>SM2 then

Out of deflection

Designer Note:
• Based on the design requirements, CL for landing & cruise is determined
• From CL-cruise & SM (CmCL), Cm0 is obtained
• Based on CL-Landing, allowable fwd CG travelCGis determined NPPower Off
• Based on Cm & CG limits, wing, tail and fuselage parameters are
0
determined

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 Types of Control Systems
Reversible Controls
Reversible is when there is a direct linkage from controls to control
surfaces.
Reversible means: at the flight controls, the aero-forces at the surface
can be felt. The hinge moments exerted onto the control surfaces
(ailerons, elevator, rudder) by the airflow are fed back (reversed) to
the pilot

Irreversible Controls
Irreversible is when there is a hydraulic power control unit in the way,
it can be mechanical or fly-by-wire. Irreversible means: the pilot
cannot feel the forces and moments that the airflow exerts on the
control surfaces. They will definitely need some sort of artificial feel
that links force to control position

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 Elevator Hinge Moment
Pilot must overcome the hinge moment to move the elevator
through control stick (hydraulically boosted in today’s aircraft)

Hinge Point

• Hinge moment is the accumulated effect of at, deand dt(Tab).

Hence
= +++
• where is the residual moment, , &

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 Elevator Hinge Moment
The parameters Ch0 , Cht , Che , Cht , generally come from wind
tunnel testing

Note: Use dynamic pressure of tail 23

 Stick free concept
• Free elevator means no hinge moments
= +++
• If trim tab was not deflected (=0), and = 0 (very low
value), we can find out as

Usually and are negative (center of pressure is behind

the hinge line. Thus the above eqn tells us that elevator
will deflect upwards as AoA is increased

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 Stick Free Concept
• Lift Coefficient for tail with free elevator is given by
Also

• Which simplifies to

( )
𝐶 𝐿 𝐶h Note: = = =
𝐶´𝐿 =𝐶 𝐿 1− 𝛿𝑒 𝛼𝑡
=𝐶 𝐿 𝑓
𝛼𝑡 𝛼𝑡
𝐶 𝐿 𝐶h
𝛼𝑡 𝛿𝑒
𝛼𝑡

( )
𝑪𝒉
𝑪´𝑳 =𝑪 𝑳 𝟏 −𝝉 𝜶𝒕
=𝑪 𝑳 𝒇
𝜶𝒕 𝜶𝒕
𝑪𝒉 𝜹𝒆
𝜶𝒕

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 Stick Free Concept

– The slope of tail lift curve is modified by the term in the

parenthesis.
– Factor is less than unity ()
• If we develop eqns for total pitching moment for stick
free elevator case, similar to stick fixed Neutral Point
(Eqn 2.34 and 2.35)
– will be replaced by

at at
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 Stick Free Concept
• The equations would become

– Prime indicates elevator-free values.

– To determine influence of free elevator on static longitudinal
stability
𝑪𝒎

𝑪𝑳 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎

Stick Free
Stick Fixed
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 Stick Free Concept
• Lets examine the condition .
– Setting in (2.62) and solving to yields stick free neutral point

• Difference between stick free and stick fixed neutral

point is expressed as

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 Stick Free Concept
• As ‘f’ is less than unity, so SM reduces for Stick Free case
• It is the distance between the neutral point and the
centre of gravity, defined as
Static margin (stick fixed) = xNP/c - xcg/c
Static margin (stick free) = x`NP/c - xcg/c

𝑆𝑀 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝐹𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 >𝑆𝑀 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑒

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