PIA

Training Centre (PTC) Module 8 BASIC AERODYNAMICS

Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics

MODULE 8
Sub Module 8.4

AERODYNAMICS

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Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics
DIRECTIONAL STABILITY ------------------------------------------------------17
Contents DESIGN OF THE FIN AND RUDDER-------------------------------------------18
MOMENT ARM ----------------------------------------------------------------------18
INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 SWEEPBACK AND DIRECTIONAL STABILITY ----------------------------18
AIRPLANE REFERENCE AXES -------------------------------------------------- 1 DORSALS AND VENTRAL FINS ------------------------------------------------18
Lateral Axis ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 LATERAL AND DIRECTIONAL STABILITY --------------------------------19
Longitudinal Axis---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 LATERAL DYNAMIC EFFECTS -------------------------------------------------19
Normal Axis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 YAW FOLLOWED BY ROLL -----------------------------------------------------19
STATIC STABILITY ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2 DIRECTIONAL DIVERGENCE---------------------------------------------------20
DYNAMIC STABILITY ------------------------------------------------------------- 3 ROLL FOLLOWED BY YAW -----------------------------------------------------20
TRIM AND CONTROLLABILITY ------------------------------------------------ 4 SPIRAL DIVERGENCE-------------------------------------------------------------20
AIRPLANE STABILITY AND CONTROL -------------------------------------- 6 DUTCH ROLL ------------------------------------------------------------------------21
LONGITUDINAL STABILITY ---------------------------------------------------- 8 ACTIVE STABILITY CONTROL ------------------------------------------------21
EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL TAILPLANE -------------------------------------- 8
POSITION OF CENTER OF GRAVITY AND LONGTIUDNAL
STABILITY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
DESIGN FEATURES TO AID LONGITUDINAL STABILITY------------- 11
LONGITUDINALDIHEDRAL ---------------------------------------------------- 11
LATERAL STABILITY ------------------------------------------------------------ 12
DIHEDRALANGLE ----------------------------------------------------------------- 13
DIHEDRAL EFFECT---------------------------------------------------------------- 14
STARBOARD WING -------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
PORT WING ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
SWEEPBACK EFFECT ------------------------------------------------------------- 16
ASPECT RATIO --------------------------------------------------------------------- 16
TAPER RATIO ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 16
FIN AREA AND LATERAL STABILITY--------------------------------------- 17
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Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics

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Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics

INTRODUCTION Normal Axis

The aircraft must have adequate stability to maintain a uniform The normal axis is a straight line through the CG at right angles
flight condition and recover from the various disturbing to the longitudinal and lateral axis, movement about which is
influences. It is also necessary to provide sufficient stability to called yawing. This axis can be referred to as the yawing axis.
minimize the workload of the pilot. In addition, the aircraft must
have proper response to the controls so that it may achieve the
inherent performance. There are certain conditions of flight
which provide the most critical requirements of stability and
control and these conditions must be understood and respected
to accomplish safe and efficient operation of the aircraft.

AIRPLANE REFERENCE AXES

In order to understand the forces and moments on the aircraft, it

is necessary to establish a datum. In aircraft a set of mutually
perpendicular reference axes originating at the center of gravity
is taken as the datum.

Lateral Axis

The lateral axis is a straight line through the CG parallel to a line

joining the wingtips. The rotation about this axis is termed
pitching. This axis may also be known as the pitching or looping
axis. If any component of the forward flight velocity acts parallel
to this axis the subsequent motion is called sideslip or skid.
Figure 1: Airplane reference Axes
Longitudinal Axis

The longitudinal axis is a straight line through the CG from nose

to tail, movement about which is known as rolling. This axis is
sometimes called the roll axis.

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Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics

STATIC STABILITY Similarly, a ball on a hill illustrates the condition of static

An aircraft is in a state of equilibrium when the sum of all forces
and all moments is equal to zero. When an aircraft is in
equilibrium, there are no accelerations and the aircraft
continues in a steady condition of flight. If the equilibrium is
disturbed by a wind gust or deflection of the controls, the aircraft
will experience acceleration due to imbalance of moments or
forces.
instability or negative static stability. Displacement from
equilibrium at the hilltop brings about the tendency for greater
displacement.
The ball on a flat, level surface illustrates the condition of
neutral static stability. The ball encounters a new equilibrium, at
any point of displacement and has neither stable nor unstable
tendencies.

The static stability of a system is defined as the initial tendency

of an aircraft to return to equilibrium conditions after being
disturbed from equilibrium. Thus, an aircraft is said to have a
Positive Static Stability.

If the object has a tendency to continue in the direction of

disturbance, negative static stability or static instability exists.

An intermediate condition could occur where an object

displaced from equilibrium remains in equilibrium in the
displaced position.
Figure 2: Stability of a ball in various conditions
If the object subject to a disturbance has neither the tendency to
return nor the tendency to continue in the displacement
direction, neutral static stability exists.

Consider a ball in a trough to understand the condition of

positive static stability. If the ball is displaced from equilibrium at
the bottom of the trough, the initial tendency of the ball is to
return to the equilibrium condition. The ball may roll back and
forth through the point of equilibrium but displacement to either
side creates the initial tendency to return.

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Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics

DYNAMIC STABILITY Oscillation continues with no reduction of amplitude with time.

While static stability is concerned with the tendency of a
displaced body to return to equilibrium, dynamic stability is
defined by the resulting motion with time. If an object is
disturbed from equilibrium, the time history of the resulting
motion indicates the dynamic stability of the system. In general,
the system will demonstrate positive dynamic stability if the
amplitude of motion decreases with time.
If an aircraft encounters an initial disturbance and the motion
simply subsides without oscillation, indicates positive static
stability.
While such an oscillation indicates positive static stability, neutral
dynamic stability exists. Positive damping is necessary to
eliminate the continued oscillation.
The aircraft must have sufficient damping to rapidly dissipate
any oscillatory motion, which would affect the operation of the
aircraft. If natural aerodynamic damping is insufficient, a
synthetic damping must be incorporated to provide the
necessary positive dynamic stability.

In case the amplitude increases with time and the aircraft has
tendency to continue in the direction of displacement is
evidence of static instability and the increasing amplitude is
proof of dynamic instability.

If the original disturbance creates a displacement, which

remains constant thereafter, the lack of tendency for motion and
the constant amplitude indicate neutral static and neutral
dynamic

There is condition in which there is mode of a damped oscillation

where the amplitude decreases with time. The reduction of
amplitude with time indicates there is resistance to motion and
the system dissipates energy. The dissipation of energy and
resistance to motion is known as the positive dynamic stability.

If there is no damping in the system and a disturbance results in

a condition of undamped oscillations. Without damping, the

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Category A/B1/B2 Sub Module 8.4 Flight Stability and Dynamics

TRIM AND CONTROLLABILITY

. An aircraft is said to be trimmed if all moments in pitch, roll, and

yaw are equal to zero. The establishment of equilibrium at
various conditions of flight is the function of the controls and may
be accomplished by pilot effort, trim tabs, or bias of a surface
actuator.

In everyday life positive static stability is displayed by a ball in a

trough; if the ball is displaced from equilibrium at the bottom of
the trough, there is an initial tendency to return to equilibrium. In
order to keep the ball in the new position or to control the ball, a
force must be applied in the direction of displacement to
counteract the inherent tendency to return to equilibrium. This
same stable tendency in an aircraft resists displacement from
trim by pilot effort on the controls or atmospheric disturbances.

The term' controllability refers to the ability of the aircraft to

respond to control surface displacement and achieve the desired
condition of flight. Adequate controllability must be available to
perform takeoff and landing and accomplish the various
maneuvers in flight.

It may be noted that an important relationship exists between

stability and controllability. The adequate controllability does not
necessarily exist with adequate stability. In fact, a high degree of
stability tends to reduce the controllability of the aircraft.

Figure 3: Dynamic Stabilities w.r.t Time

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The effect of increased stability on controllability is illustrated by
the ball in a steeper trough. The ball will display an increased
tendency to return to its original position. Hence a greater force
is required to "control" the ball to the same lateral displacement
when the stability is increased. In this manner, a large degree of
stability tends to make the aircraft less controllable. It is
necessary to achieve the proper balance between stability and
controllability during the design of an aircraft because the upper
limits of stability are set by the lower limits of controllability.
Figure 4: Relationship between Stability and Control
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The effect of reduced stability on controllability is illustrated by
the ball on a flat surface. When neutral static stability exists, the
ball may be displaced from equilibrium and there is no stable
tendency to return. A new point of equilibrium is obtained and
no force is required to maintain the displacement. As the static
stability approaches zero, controllability increases to infinity and
the only resistance to displacement is a resistance to the
motion of displacement damping. For this reason, the lower
limits of stability may be set by the upper limits of controllability.
If the stability of the aircraft is too low, control deflections may
create exaggerated displacements of the aircraft.
The effect of static instability on controllability is illustrated by the
ball on a hill. If the ball is displaced from equilibrium at the top of
the hill, the initial tendency is for the ball to continue in the
displaced direction.
In order to' control, the ball to some lateral displacement, a
force must be applied opposite to the direction of displacement.
This effect would be appreciated during flight of an unstable
aircraft by an unstable "feel" of the aircraft. If the controls were
deflected to increase the angle of attack, the aircraft would be
trimmed at the higher angle of attack by a push force to keep the
aircraft from continuing in the displacement direction. Such
control force reversal would evidence the airplane instability; the
pilot would be supplying the stability by his attempt to maintain
the equilibrium.
An unstable aircraft can be flown if the instability is slight with a
low rate of divergence. Quick reactions coupled with effective
controls can allow the pilot to cope with some degree of static
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instability. Since such flight would require constant attention by
the pilot, slight instability can be tolerated only in airships,
helicopters, and certain minor motions of the airplane. However,
the airplane in high-speed flight will react rapidly to any
disturbances and any instability would create unsafe conditions.
Thus, it is necessary to provide some positive static stability to
the major aircraft degree of freedom.
The external force most commonly displacing an aircraft in flight
is a gust of wind. A stable airplane will return to its original
condition naturally an unstable one will not unless the pilot takes
action.
An unstable aircraft is difficult for a Pilot to fly because he must
continually interfere by applying control forces. A stable aircraft
can almost fly 'hands-off and requires only guidance rather than
second-to-second control inputs by the pilot.
AIRPLANE STABILITY AND CONTROL
The stability of an airplane means its ability to return to initial
condition of flight after having been disturbed any efforts on the
part of the pilot.
An airplane may be stable under some conditions of flight and
unstable under other conditions. For instance, an airplane, which
is stable during straight and level flight, may be unstable when
inverted, and vice versa. For example If an airplane were stable
during a dive, it would mean that it would resist to come out from
dive and more control force would be required by the pilot to
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bring it out from the dive.
There is a half-way condition between stability and instability,
for, as already stated, an airplane which, when disturbed, tends
to return to its original position is said to be stable; if, on the
other hand, it tends to move farther away from the original
position, it is unstable. But it may tend to do neither of these and
prefer to remain in its new position. This is called neutral
stability, and is sometimes a very desirable feature.
Figure 05 illustrates some of the ways in which an airplane may
behave when it is left to itself. Only a pitching motion is shown;
exactly the same considerations apply to roll and yaw, although
a particular airplane may have quite different stability
characteristics about its three axes.
The top diagram shows complete dead-beat stability, which is
very rarely achieved in practice. The second is the usual type of
stability, that is to say an oscillation that is gradually damped
out.
The steady oscillation shown next is really a form of neutral
stability, while the bottom diagram shows the kind of thing,
which may easily occur in certain types of aircraft, an oscillation
that steadily, grows worse. Even this is not as bad as the case
when an airplane that makes no attempt to return but simply
departs farther and farther away from its original path. That is
complete instability.
The degree of stability may differ according to what are called
the stick-fixed and stick-free conditions; in pitching, for instance
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stick-fixed means that the elevators are held in their neutral
position relative to the tail plane, whereas stick-free means that
the pilot releases the control column and allows the elevators to
take up their own positions.
Figure 5: Dynamic Stabilities in aircraft
An airplane in flight is continually being disturbed from steady
state by external forces from small (and large) gusts of wind.
The stability of airplane is its natural or inbuilt ability to return to
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its original condition without any action being taken by the pilot.
Stability is concerned with the motion of the body after the
disturbing force has been removed. Positive stability indicates a
tendency to return to the original equilibrium position or state
prior to the disturbance.
Controllability, on the other hand, means the ability of an aircraft
to respond the pilot inputs and maneuver into any desired
position. There is a significant relationship between Stability and
Controllability of an aircraft as mentioned earlier. A high degree
of stability makes the aircraft resistant to change and thereby
tends to reduce the controllability, i.e. good stability makes it
harder for the pilot to control and maneuver the airplane. An
airplane with some positive stability is a lot easier to fly for a pilot
than an unstable airplane that shows a natural tendency to
diverge from the trimmed flight attitude. The stability must not be
so great, however, as to require high control forces for
maneuvering.
- The stability or control of an airplane in so far as it concerns
pitching about the lateral axis is called longitudinal stability
or control respectively.
- Stability or control, which concerns rolling about
the longitudinal axis, is called lateral stability or control.
- Stability or control, which concerns yawing about the normal
axis, is called directional stability or control.
- Lateral and directional stability are so closely
interconnected that it is impossible to consider one without
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the other, and they are therefore often grouped together
under the single term of lateral stability.
Longitudinal Stability
Stability in pitching is achieved if the angle of attack is
temporarily increased, forces will act in such a way as to
depress the nose and thus decrease the angle of attack once
again. An aircraft with longitudinal stability have an inbuilt
tendency to return to the same attitude in pitch after any
disturbance. The longitudinally stable airplane tends to maintain
the trimmed condition of flight and is therefore easy for a pilot to
maintain its pitch attitude.
On an ordinary rectangular wing alone, the pitching moment
about the center of gravity is slightly nose-down at the angle of
zero lift. As the angle of attack is increased, the pitch down
moment is reduced and eventually becomes a nose-up (pitch
up). This is exactly opposite to the requirement for longitudinal
stability. At zero lift angle the pitching moment should be slightly
nose-up and should become less so and eventually nose-down
as the angle is increased. In other words pitching moment
should oppose the increase of angle of attack.
The position as regards the wing itself can be improved to some
extent by sweepback, by washout towards the wing tips, by a
change in wing section towards the tips, and by a reflex
curvature towards the trailing edge of the wing section.
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Effect Of Horizontal Tailplane
If a disturbance, such as a gust, changes the attitude of the
aircraft by pitching it nose-up, the aircraft, due to its inertia, will
continue initially on its original fight path and therefore present
itself to the relative airflow at an increased angle of attack.
The pitch up caused by the disturbance results the tailplane
increases angle of attack of horizontal tail. This will cause the
tailplane to produce an upwards or decreased downwards
aerodynamic force. The altered aerodynamic force of course
gives a nose-down pitching moment, tending to return the
airplane to its original trimmed condition.
Because of the length of the moment arm between the centre of
gravity and the tailplane the aerodynamic force produced by the
tailplane need not be large for a larger turning effect. As the tail
is raised and the nose pitches back down, the original angle of
attack is restored. Thus the extra upward or decreased
downward aerodynamic force from the tailplane disappears and
aircraft returns to where its original position prior to the
disturbance.
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Position Of Center Of Gravity And Longtiudnal Stability

The forward position the CG of the aircraft results in a larger

moment arm for the tailplane which produces a larger turning
effect of the tailplane lift force; these results in an increases
stabilizing effect along longitudinal axis.

Limits are laid down for the range within which the CG must lie

for safe flight. An aircraft is always loaded in a way to ensure

Figure 6: Position of CG and Longitudinal Stability
that the CG is within the allowable limits. If the CG is aft of the
allowable aft limit, the restoring moment of the tailplane in pitch
maybe insufficient for longitudinal stability. Also, if the CG is too
far forward the elevator may not produce sufficient force at low
speeds to flare the nose-heavy airplane for landing.

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Figure 7: Effects of CG Location and Longitudinal Stability

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Design Features To Aid Longitudinal Stability
Design features also play a very large part in longitudinal
stability. Tailplane area, distance from the center of gravity,
aspect ratio, angle of incidence and longitudinal dihedral are
considered by the designer. The aim is to generate a restoring
force that is effective because of a long moment arm leading to
an airplane that is longitudinally stable.
Longitudinal Dihedral
The tail plane is usually set at an angle less than that of the main
planes, the angle between the chord of the tail plane and the
chord of the main wings is known as the longitudinal dihedral
This longitudinal dihedral is a practical characteristic of most
types of airplane.
Figure 8: Longitudinal Dihedral Angle
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It is an actual angle, at which the tailplane strikes the airflow.
Consider an airplane to be flying so that the angle of attack of
the main planes is 4 and the angle of attack of the tail plane is
2 sudden gust causes the nose to rise, inclining the
Longitudinal axis of the airplane by 1.As a result of inertia the
airplane will momentarily continue to maintain its flight path
albeit with a higher nose up attitude. The result is that the angle
of attack of the mainplanes is changed to 5 and that of the tail
plane to nearly 3. The more lift due to increased angle of attack
with induce a pitching moment in the main planes .However at
the same time a similar lifting force is also imparted in the
horizontal tailplane which pulls the tail up and pushes the nose
down. With its long leverage about the centre of gravity, it will
create a nose down tendency. If the restoring moment caused
by the tailplane is greater than the upsetting moment caused by
the main planes, and possibly the fuselage, then the aircraft will
be stable.
It is interesting to note that a tail plane plays much the same
part, though more effectively, in providing longitudinal stability,
as does reflex curvature on a wing, or sweepback with washout
of incidence towards the tips.
In a Canard Configuration where the tail plane is in front of the
main planes there will probably still be a longitudinal dihedral.
In this case the canards have a greater angle than the main
planes. While the latter is naturally set at an efficient angle,
such as 4, the front surface may be at a higher , say, 6or 8.
Thus it is working at a very inefficient angle and will stall some
few degrees earlier than the main planes. This fact is
considered by some designers as its main advantage, since the
stalling of the front surface will prevent the nose being raised
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any farther, and therefore the main planes will never reach the
stalling angle.
In the tail-less type in which there is no surface either in front or
behind the wings must be heavily swept back, and there is a
wash-out" so that these wingtips do act in the same way as the
ordinary tail plane.
Lateral Stability
When an aircraft is disturbed in roll about its longitudinal axis
the angle of attack of the down-going wing is increased and that
on the up-going wing is decreased. As long as the aircraft is
not near the stall the difference in incidence produces an
increase of lift on the down-going wing and a decrease on the
up-going wing. The rolling moment produced opposes the initial
disturbance and results in a damping in roll effect.
Since the damping in roll effect is proportional to the rate of roll
of the aircraft, it cannot bring the aircraft back to the wings-level
position; thus in the absence of any other leveling force, an
aircraft disturbed in roll would remain with the wings banked.
Therefore, by virtue of the damping in roll effect, an aircraft
possesses neutral static stability with respect to an angle of
bank disturbance. However, when an aircraft is disturbed
laterally it experiences not only a rolling motion but also a side
slipping motion caused by the inclination of the lift vector.
The forces arising on the different parts of the aircraft as a result
of the sideslip produce a rolling moment tending to restore the
aircraft to its initial wings-level position. It is seen therefore that
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the lateral static stability of an aircraft reacts to the sideslip
velocity (v) or a displacement in yaw. This effect has a
considerable influence on the long-term response (lateral
dynamic stability) of the aircraft.
All aircraft resist rolling, when flying at a small angle of attack. As
the aircraft banks, the angle of attack will increase on the down
going wing, and decrease on the up-going wing. The effect is
more lift in the down going wing .As a result the down going wing
comes up and rights itself up. It must also be emphasized that
this only happens while the angle of attack is small; if the angle
of attack is near the stalling angle, then the increased angle on
the falling wing only cause a decrease in lift, and the decreased
angle on the other side an increase; thus the new forces will
tend to roll the airplane still further. However the real test of
stability is what happens after the roll has taken place.
Each different part of the aircraft will contribute towards the
overall value of the lateral static stability and these contributions
will be of different magnitude depending on the condition of flight
and the particular configuration of the aircraft. The most
important of these contributions are:
WING CONTRIBUTION DUE TO:
DIHEDRAL,
SWEEPBACK.
WING/FUSELAGE INTERFERENCE.
FUSELAGE AND FIN CONTRIBUTION.
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Dihedral Angle
The most common method of obtaining lateral stability is by the
use of a dihedral angle on the main planes. Dihedral angle is
taken as being the angle between each plane and the
horizontal, not the total angle between the two planes, which is
really the geometrical meaning of dihedral angle. If the planes
are inclined upwards towards the wing tips, the dihedral is
positive; if downwards, it is negative and called anhedral; but
the latter arrangement is only used in practice for reasons other
than stability, even to reduce the amount of lateral stability.
The effect of the dihedral angle in securing lateral stability is
sometimes dismissed by saying that if one wing drops the
horizontal equivalent on that wing is increased and therefore lift
is increased, whereas the horizontal equivalent and the lift of
the wing which rises is decreased, therefore obviously the
forces will tend to right the airplane.
Unfortunately, it is not all quite as obvious as that. It is true that
the vertical force on the lower wing will be greater than the
vertical force on the raised wing, owing to the change in
horizontal equivalents; but, once the rolling has ceased, the
total force on each wing will be the same, and will be at right
angles to each plane, and will act at the same distance from the
centre of gravity. Each force will therefore have the same
moment, and therefore the forces will not tend to return the
airplane to its normal position.
When the wings are both equally inclined the resultant lift on the
wings is vertically upwards and will exactly balance the weight.
If, however, one wing becomes lower than the other then the
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resultant lift on the wings will be slightly inclined in the direction
of the lower Wing, while the weight will remain vertical.
Therefore the two forces will not balance each other and there
will be small resultant force acting in a sideways and downward
direction. This force is temporarily unbalanced and therefore the
airplane will move in the direction of this force. It will sideslip and
this will cause a flow of air in the Opposite direction to the slip.
This wind will strike the lower plane at a greater angle than the
upper plane; also the wingtip of the lower plane will become as it
were the leading edge so far as the sideslip is considered. And
just as the C.P. across the chord is nearer the leading edge, so
the centre of the pressure distribution along the span will now be
on the lower plane.
For both these reasons the lower plane will have more lift and
after a slight slip sideways the airplane will roll back to its proper
position as a matter of fact, owing to the protection of the
fuselage, it is probable that the flow of air by the sideslip will not
reach a large portion of the raised wing. This depends very
much on the position of the wing relative to the fuselage.
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Figure 9: Dihedral Angle

Dihedral Effect

Dihedral effect can be explained in a number of ways but the

explanation illustrated has the advantage of relating dihedral
effect to sideslip angle.
Figure10: Dihedral Effect

In the diagram it will be seen that due to the geometric dihedral,

a point nearer the wing tip (A or D) is higher than a point
inboard (B or C). Therefore a sideslip to starboard will produce
the following effects:

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STARBOARD WING.

THE RELATIVE AIRFLOW WILL CROSS THE WING (FROM A TO B) AT

AN ANGLE EQUAL TO THE SIDESLIP ANGLE. SINCE POINT A IS
HIGHER THAN POINT B THIS WILL PRODUCE THE SAME EFFECT AS
RAISING THE LEADING EDGE AND LOWERING THE TRAILING EDGE,
INCREASING THE ANGLE OF ATTACK. SO LONG AS THE AIRCRAFT IS
NOT FLYING NEAR THE STALLING SPEED THE LIFT WILL INCREASE.

PORT WING. BY A SIMILAR ARGUMENT, THE ANGLE OF ATTACK ON

THE PORT WING WILL REDUCE AND ITS LIFT DECREASE.

A stable rolling moment is thus produced whenever sideslip is

present (i.e. following a disturbance in yaw). This contribution Figure 11: Sideslip effect
depends on the dihedral angle and slope of the lift curve. It will
therefore also depend on aspect ratio being increased with an
increase in effective chord length. It is also affected by wing
taper. This is one of the most important contributions to the
overall stability and, for this reason; the lateral static stability is
often referred to as the dihedral effect although there are a
number of other important contributions.

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Sweepback Effect types of aircraft, and may well mean that an airplane has a

WING SWEEPBACK HAS THE EFFECT OF PRODUCING AN ADDITIONAL sufficient degree of lateral stability without any dihedral angle,
STABILIZING CONTRIBUTION THUS INCREASING THE EFFECTIVE or too much if some of the following effects also apply.
DIHEDRAL OF THE WING (10 OF SWEEP HAS ABOUT THE SAME
EFFECT AS 1 OF DIHEDRAL). THE DIAGRAM SHOWS THE PRINCIPAL Even if there is no actual dihedral angle on the wings, these
EFFECTS ON THE WING GEOMETRY OF SIDESLIP. THE COMPONENT other methods of achieving lateral stability may be described as
OF FLOW ACCELERATED BY THE SECTION CAMBER IS having a "dihedral effect.
PROPORTIONAL TO THE COSINE OF THE ANGLE OF SWEEP. THE
ANGLE OF SWEEP OF THE LEADING (LOW) WING IS DECREASED AND
THAT OF THE TRAILING WING IS INCREASED BY THE SIDESLIP ANGLE.
A STABLE ROLLING MOMENT IS THEREFORE INDUCED BY THE
SIDESLIP.

Aspect Ratio

On the leading (low) wing the span is increased and the chord
decreased which is an effective increase in aspect ratio. On the
trailing (high) wing, the span is decreased and the chord is
increased resulting in a reduction in aspect ratio. This again
produces a stable rolling moment because the more efficient
(low) wing produces more lift.

Taper Ratio

Another, smaller effect arises from a tapered wing. An increase

in taper ratio, defined as tip chord, affects the lift coefficient and
also produces a small stable rolling moment in sideslip. Figure 12: Effect of Sweepback

Both the leading edge effect on the lower wing, and the
shielding of the upper wing by the fuselage, occur on nearly all

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Fin Area And Lateral Stability

One factor, which may have considerable influence on lateral

stability, is the position of the various side surfaces, such as the
fuselage, fin and rudder, wheels, and the floats or hull of a
seaplane. All these will present areas at right angles to any
sideslip, so there will be pressure upon them which, if they are
high above the centre of gravity, will tend to restore the airplane
to an even keel; this applies to many modern types which have
a high tail plane on top of a high fin and such types may have
anhedral on the main planes to counterbalance this effect and
prevent too great a degree of lateral stability; but if the side
surfaces are low, as on a seaplane, the pressure on them will
tend to roll the aircraft over still more and so cause lateral
instability.

It must be noted that, whatever the method of obtaining lateral

stability, correction only takes place after a sideslip towards the
low wing. It is this sideslip, which affects directional stability.
Figure 13: the Fin Provides Directional Stability
Directional Stability
For a given displacement, and therefore sideslip angle, the
This is stability about the normal axis. If an aircraft is displaced degree of positive stability will depend upon the size of the
directionally, it will continue in its original direction, due to its restoring moment which is determined mainly by:
momentum. The fin will now be at an angle relative to the
airflow and will produce a turning moment about the centre of
gravity. This will bring the aircraft back to its original course.

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Design Of The Fin And Rudder

The vertical stabilizer is a symmetrical aerofoil and it will
produce an aerodynamic force at positive angles of attack. In
sideslip, therefore, the total sides force on the fin and rudder will
be proportional to the lift coefficient and the area. The lift
coefficient will vary, as on any aerofoil, with aspect ratio and
sweepback. At high angles of sideslip it is possible for the fin to
stall and to avoid this designer can increase the stalling angle
by increasing the sweepback, decreasing the aspect ratio or by
fitting multiple fins of low aspect ratio.
Moment Arm
Dorsals And Ventral Fins
Dorsal fins contribute positively to both directional and lateral
stability by increasing the fin area. Ventral fins contribute
positively to directional stability by increasing the surfaces,
which creates rest oratory moments. But their effect on lateral
stability is negative, as the resulting wind due to sideslip acting
on these surfaces will tend to roll the aircraft more. As the
sweepback of ventral and dorsal fins are higher they have a
higher critical mach than the rest of the surface. Therefore
remains operational even at very high subsonic speed.

The position of the centre of gravity, and therefore the distance

between the CG and the centre of pressure of the vertical
stabilizer, will determine the degree of stability. Forward
position of the CG will lengthen the moment arm thereby
increasing the directional stability; a rearward position will
decrease the directional stability.

Sweepback And Directional Stability

Sweepback contributes positively to directional stability by

presenting more frontal area when the aircraft is disturbed from
its heading as shown in figure on page 35. Increase in frontal
area creates more drag on the wing, which lead into the wind
creating a moment, which tends to restore the aircraft nose
back to its original heading.

Figure 14: Dorsal Fin in Directional stability

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Lateral And Directional Stability
The conjunction these two forms of stability the sideslip essential
to lateral stability will cause an air pressure on the side surfaces,
which have been provided for directional stability. The effect of
this pressure will be to turn the nose into the relative wind, i.e. in
this case, towards the direction of sideslip. The airplane,
therefore, will turn off its original course and in the direction of
the lower wing. It is rather curious to note that the greater the
directional stability the greater will be the tendency to turn off
course in a sideslip. This turn will cause the raised wing, now on
the outside of the turn, to travel faster than the inner or lower
wing, and therefore to obtain more lift and so bank the airplane
still further.
Lateral Dynamic Effects
Previous discussion has separated the lateral and directional
response of the airplane to sideslip. This separation is
convenient for detailed study of each the airplane static lateral
stability and the airplane static directional stability.
When an airplane in free flight is placed in a sideslip, the lateral
and directional response will be coupled, i.e., simultaneously the
airplane produces rolling moment due to sideslip and yawing
moment due to sideslip. Thus, the lateral dynamic motion of the
airplane in free flight must consider the coupling or interaction of
the lateral and directional effects. The principal effects, which
determine the lateral dynamic characteristics of an airplane, are:
- Rolling moment due to sideslip or dihedral effect (lateral
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stability).
- Yawing moment due to sideslip or static directional
stability.
- Yawing moment due to rolling velocity or the "adverse
yaw.
Rolling moment due to yawing velocity a cross effect similar to.
If the aircraft has a yawing motion to the right, the leftwing will
move forward faster and momentarily develop more lift than
the right and cause a rolling moment to the right.
The complex interaction of these effects produces three
possible types of motion of the airplane:
- A directional divergence,
- A spiral divergence,
- And an oscillatory mode termed Dutch roll.
Yaw Followed By Roll
If the aircraft is displaced in yaw it will initially continue in the
original direction of flight due to its inertia and therefore sideslip.
This sideslip will cause the lateral stability characteristics of the
aircrafts wing, such as dihedral, sweepback or high-wing, to
increase Lift on the forward wing and decrease Lift on the
trailing wing.
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This causes a rolling moment that will tend to raise the forward
wing, resulting in the aircraft rolling towards the trailing wing.
DIRECTIONAL DIVERGENCE
If the reaction to a small initial sideslip is such as to create
moments, which tend to increase the sideslip, directional
divergence will exist. The sideslip would increase until the
airplane is broadside to the wind or until structural failure
occurs. Of course, increasing the static directional stability
reduces the tendency for directional divergence.
Roll Followed By Yaw
For lateral stability it is essential to have the sideslip, which is
caused by the disturbances in the roll axis. This sideslip exerts a
force on the side or keel surfaces of the aircraft, which if the
aircraft is directionally stable will cause it to yaw its nose into the
relative airflow. The Roll Has Caused a Yaw in the direction of
the sideslip and the airplane will turn further off its original
heading in the direction of the lower wing.
Note that as a consequence of increased directional stability of
the aircraft the greater tendency there is to turn away from the
original heading in the direction of the lower wing. Also in the
process the nose will tend to drop further.
This yaw due to positive characteristics of directional stability will
cause the higher wing on the outside of the turn to move faster
and therefore produce more lift.
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The lateral stability characteristics of the airplane such as
dihedral will cause the lower wing to produce more lift and
therefore tend to return the aircraft to the wings level position.
Therefore the two effects are in conflict:
- The directionally stable characteristics (large fin) tends to
steepen the turn and drop the nose further
- The laterally stable characteristics (dihedral) tends to level
the wings
Spiral Divergence
If the first effect is greater i.e. strong directional stability and
weak lateral stability then the aircraft will tend to bank further
into the sideslip, towards the lower wing, with the nose
continuing to drop until the aircraft is in a spiral dive known as
spiral divergence.
Positive lateral stability large positive directional stability leads
to spiral divergence
The character of spiral divergence is by no means violent. The
airplane, when disturbed from the equilibrium of level flight,
begins a slow spiral, which gradually increases to a spiral dive.
When a small sideslip is introduced, the strong 'directional
stability tends to restore the nose into the wind while the
relatively weak dihedral effect lags in restoring the airplane
laterally.
In the usual case, the rate of divergence in the spiral motion is
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so gradual that the pilot can control the tendency without
difficulty. If the A/C rolls owing to a small disturbance there is a
consequential yaw, the roll does not get corrected immediately
owing to relatively lower lateral stability and the A/C continuous
to roll while the nose turns into the wind owing to high directional
stability. Also the A/C goes into a dive due to the bank.
Dutch Roll
This is a coupled lateral-directional oscillation, which is usually
dynamically stable but is objectionable because of the oscillatory
nature. The response of the airplane to a disturbance from
equilibrium is a combined rolling-yawing oscillation in which the
rolling motion is phased to precede the yawing motion. The
damping of this oscillatory mode may be weak or strong
depending on the properties of the airplane.
Generally, Dutch roll will occur when the lateral stability is large
when compared to static directional stability.
Positive lateral stability small positive directional stability
prevents directional divergence but leads to another kind of
dynamic instability, which is known as Dutch Rolling.
Another point to note is that, as the aircraft is actually yawing,
the outer wing will move faster and produce more lift than the
inner wing, giving a tendency to roll towards the inner wing, The
airplanes inherent directional stability (from the fin) will tend to
weathercock or yaw the aircraft in the direction of the sideslip,
NOTE: A Roll Causes a Yaw and A Yaw Causes a Roll, and the
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two effects need to be studied together.
The choice is then the least of the three evils. Directional
divergence cannot be tolerated, Dutch roll is objectionable, and
spiral divergence is tolerable if the rate of divergence is low. This
allows for two possible scenarios, which could be employed in
aircraft design.
One such possibility is to allow for spiral divergence, which
could be corrected by the pilot by use of rudder. In these
aircraft weak positive lateral stability and large directional
stability is provided by design In this design, the static
directional Stability is made adequate to prevent objectionable
Dutch roll, this will automatically be sufficient to prevent
directional divergence. This design is employed in light aircraft
with simple control systems.
Other possible method is to prevent spiral divergence by
reducing the degree of directional stability of the aircraft. This
will lead to increased spiral stability but will lead to increased
Dutch rolling of the aircraft. On most transport category aircraft
this design is incorporated and to dampen the resulting
oscillatory movement due to Dutch roll automated control
systems will be provided. E.g.: Yaw Damper system
Active Stability Control
The inherent stability of aircraft is the ability of the aircraft to
return to equilibrium without the intervention of the pilot or the
control surfaces. But depending on the requirements certain
aircraft are not designed with this inherent ability. For example in
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fighters or combat aircraft where high maneuverability and

responsiveness is required instead of stability.

Yet stability of the Aircraft cannot be totally disposed of in

achieving these requirements. If Stability cannot be built into the
aircraft some other means of providing stability is required. So
these aircraft use high power computers to command control
surfaces to provide the required stability for the aircraft.

These computers compute complex calculations in minute time

and command control surface deflections to achieve stability.
Such a system is called active stability Control System.

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