Unit 06

CONCEPTS OF STABILITY AND

CONTROL
 Unit Outline
• Basic concepts – static stability, dynamic stability, longitudinal, lateral
and directional stability, control fixed and control free stability
• Rudder lock
• Dorsal fin
• One engine inoperative condition.,
• Weather cocking effect
• Adverse yaw effects
• Aileron reversal
• Types of modes of motion: long or phugoid motion, short period
motion.
Stability
• Stability is the ability of an aircraft to correct for conditions that act on
it, like turbulence or flight control inputs.

• The characteristic of an aircraft that causes it to return to its original

flight condition after it has been disturbed. In simpler terms, stability
refers to the airplane's natural reaction to correct itself back to stable
flight after an event has challenged that, such as a reaction to flight
control inputs.
• For aircraft, there are two general types of stability: static and
dynamic.
Static Stability

• Static stability is the initial tendency of an aircraft to return to its

original position when it's disturbed.
• There are three kinds of static stability:
 Positive
 Neutral
 Negative
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Positive Static Stability
An aircraft that has positive static stability tends to return to its original
attitude when it's disturbed.
 Negative static stability
Finally, an aircraft that has negative static stability tends to continue
moving away from its original attitude when it's disturbed.
 Neutral static stability
An aircraft that has neutral static stability tends to stay in its new
attitude when it's disturbed.
Dynamic Stability

• Dynamic stability is how an airplane responds over time to a

disturbance. And it's probably no surprise that there are three kinds
of dynamic stability as well:
• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
Positive Dynamic Stability

• Aircraft with positive dynamic stability have oscillations that dampen

out over time. The Cessna 172 is a great example. If your 172 is
trimmed for level flight, and you pull back on the yoke and then let
go, the nose will immediately start pitching down. Depending on how
much you pitched up initially, the nose will pitch down slightly nose
low, and then, over time, pitch nose up again, but less than your
initial control input. Over time, the pitching will stop, and your 172
will be back to its original attitude.
Neutral dynamic stability

• Aircraft with neutral dynamic stability have oscillations that never

dampen out. As you can see in the diagram below, if you pitch up a
trimmed, neutrally dynamic stable aircraft, it will pitch nose low, then
nose high again, and the oscillations will continue, in theory, forever.
Negative dynamic stability

• Aircraft with negative dynamic stability have oscillations that get

worse over time. The diagram below pretty much sums it up. Over
time, the pitch oscillations get more and more amplified.
Stability Definitions

An airplane is just one type of aircraft, but its analysis forms an essential basis for
understanding the dynamics and control characteristics of all flight vehicles. The
issue of concern is with its stability and control characteristics about all three flight
axes, as shown in the figure below, namely:

1.Longitudinal stability and control concern the airplane’s response in the pitch or
angle of attack degree of freedom.

2.Lateral stability and control relate to the lateral axis or rolling degree of
freedom.

3.Directional stability and control relate to the yawing axis or directional

(weathercock) degree of freedom.
An airplane can pitch, roll, and yaw. By design, it is generally expected to be statically and
dynamically stable about all three flight axes.
Longitudinal Static Stability

• It is initially convenient to describe the principles concerning an airplane’s longitudinal or pitching response, mainly
because the responses in pitch are clean and uncoupled from the responses in roll and yaw.
• Consider the situation when the balance of forces and moment in the trim state is disturbed, such as by a vertical gust
caused by atmospheric turbulence.
• However, it should be remembered that gusts can come from virtually any direction, affecting the airplane’s response
about any axis. Still, the vertical or {w} velocity gusts typically have the most significant effects on the aircraft’s
responses.
• A vertically upward gust, {w}, will cause an increase in the wing’s angle of attack, increasing its lift, and the airplane’s
inherent reaction is that its nose will pitch up slightly.
• The consequence of this effect, is that the airplane is no longer in stable equilibrium and will deviate from its trimmed
flight condition, as shown in the figure below.
• If the subsequent forces and moments generated on the airplane from the gust disturbance tend to return it to its
trimmed condition, the airplane’s response would be referred to as being statically stable.
longitudinal stability
• The longitudinal stability of an aircraft refers to the aircraft's stability
in the pitching plane - the plane which describes the position of the
aircraft's nose in relation to its tail and the horizon.

• If an aircraft is longitudinally stable, a small increase in angle of attack

will cause the pitching moment on the aircraft to change so that the
angle of attack decreases.
• Similarly, a small decrease in angle of attack will cause the pitching
moment to change so that the angle of attack increases.
Longitudinal stability is pitch stability: the tendency of the aircraft to
reduce its pitching and return to a level position unless countered by
the elevators.
The longitudinal stability of an aircraft, also called pitch
stability, refers to the aircraft's stability in its plane of
symmetry about the lateral axis (the axis along the
wingspan)

Longitudinal stability and control is concerned with an

airplane's pitching motion, lateral stability and control
relates to an airplane's rolling motion,(Lateral Plane) and
directional stability and control relates to an airplane's
yawing motion.
lateral stability
Stability about the airplane's longitudinal axis, which extends form
nose to tail, is called lateral stability. This helps to stabilize the lateral
or rolling effect when one wing gets lower than the wing on the
opposite side of the airplane. There are four main design factors
which make an airplane stable laterally - dihedral, keel effect,
sweepback, and weight distribution.
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• Lateral stability is roll stability: the tendency of the aircraft to reduce
its rolling and return to an upright position unless continually
maintained in position by the ailerons.
 dihedral
• The dihedral effect of an aircraft is largely affected by
its dihedral angle, which is the angle of deflection of the wings from
level in the roll plane. ... In other words, a positive dihedral angle
tends to increase stability, while a negative dihedral angle tends to
increase maneuverability.

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keel effect
• The keel effect involves the positioning of the plane’s centre of
gravity. The centre of gravity is the average location of all the
gravitational force on an object.
• the keel effect means that aeroplanes with a centre of gravity below
the wing are more stable than those with a centre of gravity above
the wing.
sweepback
• A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward
from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction. Wing sweep has the
effect of delaying the shock waves and accompanying aerodynamic drag rise
caused by fluid compressibility near the speed of sound, improving
performance.
 directional stability
• Directional or weathercock stability is related to stability of the
aircraft about z-axis.
• • An airplane is said to possess static directional stability, if it has
initial tendency to comeback to it’s equilibrium condition when
subjected to some form of yawing disturbance.

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• Directional stability (also known as vertical stability) is yaw stability:
the tendency of the aircraft to reduce its yawing and return to a
straight position unless countered by the rudder.
A Dutch roll is a combination of rolling and yawing oscillations
that occurs when the dihedral effects of an aircraft are more
powerful than the directional stability. A Dutch roll is usually
dynamically stable but it is an objectionable characteristic in an
airplane because of its oscillatory nature.

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 SLIDE SLIP
• Slide slipping of an airplane when banked excessively
means to slide sideways in a downward direction, toward the
center of the curve described in turning.
Rudder lock

• Rudder lock occurs when the force on a deflected rudder (in a steady
sideslip) suddenly reverses as the vertical stabilizer stalls. This may
leave the rudder stuck at full deflection with the pilot unable to
recenter it.
What Is Rudder Lock?

The floating angle of the rudder as given by the below equation, depends on the hinge
moment parameters Chβ and Chδr. With Chβ > 0 and Chδr < 0, the rudder floating
angle δrf will be positive for positive sideslip. Futhermore, the floating angle increases with
sideslip. Schematic variations of the required rudder deflection and floating angle with
sideslip as shown in the below figure. At high sideslip, the floating angle increases beyond
the linear rate indicated by the below equation, because the center of pressure moves aft
because of flow separation and stall.

This accentuates the floating tendency of the rudder. At one point, the floating angle may
catch up with the required rudder deflection. This condition is usually known as “rudder
lock”. Beyond this point, the floating angle may overshoot and opposite pedal forces are
required to operate the rudder. Such a situation is undesirable because it may take
considerable effort for the pilot to break the rudder lock.
 How To Prevent Rudder Lock?
This phenomenon can be prevented by two ways and are,
•Aerodynamic Balancing
•Dorsal Fin

1. Aerodynamic Balancing:
As we have discussed on our previous topics, aerodynamic balancing helps to alter hinge moment
coefficients and the floating characteristics of a control surface. Therefore, with proper aerodynamic
balancing, the floating tendency of the rudder can be so adjusted that the rudder lock phenomenon is
avoided.

2. Dorsal Fin:
Another method of preventing this phenomenon is the use of a device called a dorsal fin. As we know, the
stall angle of a given lifting surface increases as the aspect ratio is reduced. Extending the chord of inboard
sections adds area without extending the span so that the aspect ratio decreases. This form of extension is
known as a dorsal fin as shown in the below figure. Addition of a suitably sized dorsal fin helps to delay the
vertical tail stall to higher sideslip and minimizes the possibility of rudder lock. Also, the dorsal fin makes the
pedal forces vary monotonically with sideslip.
• Rudder lock requires a mechanical linkage between the rudder pedals and
the rudder. With no force on the pedals, the rudder will then weathervane
(float) into an equilibrium position that depends on the sideslip angle and
the hinge moment coefficients of that particular rudder.
• With enough sideslip angle the rudder will hit its deflection limits and stop
to move further. If the sideslip angle still increases, the difference between
the maximum deflection and the theoretical floating angle (if there were
no mechanical stops) will determine the aerodynamic force by which the
rudder is pressed into the stops.
• At this point the rudder will exhibit fully separated flow on its leeward side,
but that only changes the hinge moment derivatives and the resulting
floating angle. Normally, the ratio between the change in sideslip angle and
the resulting change in floating angle is less that one for small angles but
increases above one for larger angles. This means that the rudder will
experience a steep hinge moment increase for small increases of the
sideslip angle once it has reached its maximum deflection.
Dorsal fin

• The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles

or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body,
and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip and provide
direction stability.
• The "extension" at the front is called "dorsal fin". Its main purpose is
to improve directional stability in high side-slip situations (asymmetric
flight due to engine failure, crosswind landings, etc)
One engine inoperative condition
• Every aircraft that has two or more engines must perform all the basic
maneuvers (take-off, climb, cruise, turn and landing) even if one of
the engines fail. Not only do they have to perform these maneuvers,
they have to also fulfill certain performance criteria like maximum
climb rate, landing distance etc. These criteria must be met by the
aircraft in order for it to be certified (as per the FAA/JAR/CAR norms).
• These criteria are known as one engine inoperative(OEI) criteria and
the condition where one of the engines have failed is called as the
one engine inoperative condition.
• In a multiple engine fixed wing aircraft, one engine inoperative
condition occurs when one of the engines fails.

This can lead to a lot of negative effects aside from the thrust loss
that occurs.

To compensate thrust imbalance, tail fins are used.

Adverse yaw effects
• Adverse yaw is the tendency of an airplane to yaw in the opposite
direction of the turn. For example, as you roll to the right, your
airplane may initially yaw to the left.
• When you roll your airplane to the right, your right aileron goes up,
and your left aileron goes down. The aileron in the upward position
(the right aileron in this example) creates less lift and less drag than
the aileron that is lowered. The aileron angled downward (the left
aileron in this example) produces more drag and more lift, initially
yawing the airplane in the opposite direction of your roll.

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 aileron reversal
• An adverse effect when an aircraft rolls in the reverse direction of the aileron
input. This can be caused by the following:
i.Aerodynamic twisting of the wing caused by ailerons as speed isincr eased,
which may reduce, neutralize, or reverse the direction of the lift. Aileron reversal
results if the aileron structure is insufficiently stiff in torsion. The effect is most
pronounced at nearsonic speeds.
ii. In some aircraft, very low speeds. The descending aileron increases the angle
of attack of that portion of the wing, resulting in stall of the wing that should be
moving upward and causing it to drop.
Types of modes of motion: long or phugoid
motion, short period motion.

• A phugoid is an aircraft motionin which the vehicle pitches up and

climbs, and then pitches down and descends, accompanied by
speeding up and slowing down as it goes "downhill" and "uphill".
short period motion
• the short-period mode is a usually heavily damped oscillation with a
period of only a few seconds. The motion is a rapid pitching of the
aircraft about the center of gravity. The period is so short that the
speed does not have time to change, so the oscillation is essentially
an angle-of-attack variation.
Dutch roll
• Dutch roll is a type of aircraft motion, consisting of an out-of-phase
combination of "tail-wagging" and rocking from side to side. This yaw-
roll coupling is one of the basic flight dynamic modes (others include
phugoid, short period, and spiral divergence).
 Spiral Divergence
• Spiral divergence is characterized by an airplane that is very stable
directionally but not very stable laterally.

It is characterized by low angle of attack and high airspeed.

A spiral dive is not a type of spin because neither wing is stalled. In a
spiral dive, the airplane will respond conventionally to the pilot's inputs to
the flight controls.
Spiral divergence or spiral instability is a condition where an aircraft is directionally
very stable, but laterally very unstable. It is characterized by low angle of attack and
high airspeed. When the lateral equilibrium of the aircraft is disturbed by a gust of
air and a sideslip is introduced, the strong directional stability tends to yaw the nose
into the resultant relative wind while the comparatively weak dihedral lags in
restoring the lateral balance.

Due to this yaw, the wing on the outside of the turning moment travels forward
faster than the inside wing and, as a consequence, its lift becomes greater. This
produces an overbanking tendency which, if not corrected by the pilot, results in the
bank angle becoming steeper and steeper. At the same time, the strong directional
stability that yaws the aircraft into the relative wind is actually forcing the nose to a
lower pitch attitude. A slow downward spiral begins which, if not counteracted by the
pilot, gradually increases into a steep spiral dive. Usually the rate of divergence in
the spiral motion is so gradual the pilot can control the tendency without any
difficulty.
For example, let’s consider a large finned aircraft with no dihedral.
In this case, when the aircraft is in a bank and side-slipping, the
side force tends to turn the plane into the relative wind. The outer
wing travels faster, generates more lift, and the airplane will roll to
still a higher bank angle. No lateral stability is present to negate
this roll. The bank angle increases and the airplane continues to
turn into the sideslip in an ever-tightening spiral.
Recovery From Spiral Divergence:
A diving aircraft has more kinetic energy (which varies as the square of
speed) than when straight-and-level. To get back to straight-and-level, the
recovery must get rid of this excess energy safely. The sequence is: Power
all off; level the wings to the horizon or, if horizon has been lost, to the
instruments; reduce speed using gentle back-pressure on the controls until a
desired speed is reached; level off and restore power. The pilot should be
alert to a pitch up tendency as the aircraft is rolled to wings level.
Spin
• A spin is a special category of stall resulting in autorotation about the
vertical axis and a shallow, rotating, downward path. Spins can be
entered intentionally or unintentionally, from any flight attitude if the
aircraft has sufficient yaw while at the stall point.

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Autorotation
• Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a
helicopter or similar aircraft turns by the action of air moving up
through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power
driving the rotor.

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