Chapter 4

Aircraft equations of motion

input output

Mathematical model
2
Ge are going to develop a mathematical model in the chapter contains the dynamics of
the aircraft in the form of differential equations matrices this will help us know the aircraft respons
to a particular input

Later on we can add controllers and actuators For now lets focus on preparing the
the mathematical model

L
input y y output
Mathematical model

e e

Ge knows inertia of the aircraft

EE ma ENT It angular acceleration

lets focus on getting the right handside of these equations motand Icing
X
we choose body of the aircraftpoin
Cg Y
a point on
p Where its distanceat a x
y z from the
Z
he p origin which is CG
Total speeds at point ps
y
v U U t U
Z
v V t V

w W t we
n

totalspeed component components relative speed of

of point P ofthespeed point P to G
of CC
 But what are u v w

Pitch
x if we pitch up we have 9 about 91
Y is outof thepage z is the armwith point P moves along the positive
Zu 9 x axis didn't get why though
P
U Gz t
z

Yaws
y
2 is out of thepage if we yaw to the right we have rabo
e Z and point p moves along the
P negative x
Y Y is the arm with r
r x
x U 92 ry t
A
negative because the velocity along x
is negative

Rolls
when we roll point p doesn't move along the oc axis and so it
doesn't contribute to u

92 ry 10
But what if the body of the aircraft is flexible it bends this will cause
point P to moves
comes from the fact thatthe
92 ry Ot Es aircraft is flexible assuming the
aircraft is rigid E O

Applying the same concept to v and w yieldss

roc pz y
w
qxtpy.IE
 Now lets to the relative accelerations ax ay ads
try elf

a
Here we can see that point P has 2accelerations normal
r
Zu su andtangential However we dont work with normal andtangen
WP components instead we resolve themto X
y z componen

I Remember from dynamics speed

angularaccel
normal acceleration air W so we.I tw
r w
tangential acceleration or

U 92 ry E ax v 9W RV
relative relative
velocities V roc pz y ay it ru pw accelerations

w E az W qu pv
qoctpy
notice that the relative accelerations are similar to the relative velocities where
X y z are substituted by the corresponding speed v v w

To find the absolute acceleration all you need to do is replace the

relative speeds with the absolute speedss
Ajc J't 9W ru
absolute accelerations
ay i't ru par aka total accelerations
az W qu't pv
if we substitute all relations and assume rigid body we gets

non linear

so now when we say EFx ma a is actually a'x

Remember we denote the summation of forces in x
by X
X EFoc m a'x Y EFy m a'y Z EFz m a'z
Note that m Edm
 be considered CG to be our origin this makes our life easier because the
moments created
by the individual masses balance each other at CG and so the
following terms will get cancelled because once I add the mass and sum them the
cancel each other

I 7
T

A
This is what we are left with

50 now

X ma'x m O rVtqW still non linear

Y ma y m V pw ru
z ma z m W qUtpV

Now lets see an example of how we get the moments

y
y Yb

dmlsmayam.gs
Convention Gma
counterclockwise
clockwise t v
p force actingin
T
v
2b a'z these directions

dma

Taking the sum of moments around

ys
Rolling moment L E Moc dma 2 y E dmay z

Same for pitching and yawing moments

Pitching moment M E My Edm za'x scale

Yawing moment N E Mz dmlady ya's

By substituting back the relations and simplifying we gets

 To simplify this equation further we introduce the mass moments of inertia
Using the table below we can see that many terms already exist in the equation

only used when

y body is assymetric
usually IxyandIyz
are 0

By substituting the moments and products of inertia we get the final

moments equations
Ix p Tty Iz qrtIxy Ipr g Ixzlpg.tt tIyzlr2 q2
still
M Iygt Ix Iz pr Iyz pq ir tIxz Ixy grip
p2 r2 non linear

N Iz r Ix Iylpq Iyzlprtgftixzlqr p.lt Ixylof p

Note for most aircrafts Ixy and Iyz are 08

the contribution of each section

on the left of the x axis cancels
t
with the contribution of the correspon
x section from the right side of the
e axis therefores

Ixy O

I
similarly
the contribution of each section
on the left of the z axis cancels
with the contribution of the correspond
section from the right side of the
axis therefores

Iyz O
 O O
L
0
Ixzlpqtr.lt
Ix p Tty Iz qrtIxy Ipr g IgE
O
r2 q2

M Iyqtttx Idprt tylpq r.lt Ioa p2 r2 III grip

O o
N Iz r Ix Iylpq Ifydlprtqltixzlqr p.lt ylq2 p4
Simplified form

L I xp Tty Iz qr Ioa pg in
M Ig g t l Ix Iz pr t Ixz p2 r2
N Iz i Ix Iy pq t Iocz Iqr pl

The Problem of inertial cross couplings

coupling
In regular aircraftS the moments of inertia tix Ig Iz are similar interms
of valuescausingterms Ig Iz Ix Iz to be less significant However
with the evolution of the fighter planes the weight distribution started to change
more and more weight became concentrated in the fuselage Tis caused Ioc to decreas
whilst Iy and Iz making the coupling terms more significant causing instability

For the Moments and force equations we found the left handside and now
we are going to find the righthand side
Based on the assumption that the momentI force disturbances are duetooo
aerodynamic effects a
gravitational effects g
aerodynamic controls c
power effects p
atmospheric disturbances d

Therefore we can rewrite the forces and moments as

X Xa t
Xg Xc t Xp Xd m O r V t qW
Y Ya Yg Yc Yp Yd m V pw rU

Z Za t 2g Zc Zp t2d m W QU t pV
La t Lg Lc Lp Ld I xp Ig Iz qr Ioa pq tr
M Ma Mg Mct Mp Md
Iy It I Ix Iz pr t Ixz p2 r2

k
 enohne.IEfibesnomdicueeffects
Theridsideoftthoseequations not
flow separation linear due to terms such as

actca Those
pq p2 r
are gyroscopic non linearities
The directand indirect powereffect
can cause non linearities

Trigonometric projections

what is meant by gyroscopic non linearities

gyroscopic non linearities are non linearities caused by the gyroscopic

effect The gyroscopic effect is the tendency of a rotating object to maintain
a steady direction of its axis

e when we have a piston engine or turbo prop if a pilot decides to

g then
pitch up the aircraft will have a tendency to yaw due to the gyroscopic
effect

So How can we linearize the equations of motion

linearizing the right hand side of the force equations

X m O rVtqW e linearize them using the small perturbation theory
Y m V pw rU very small angles and rotations
Z m W qu pv After perturbations
U Ye t u V Ve t
equilibrium snhallperturbation

speed Q Get perturbation

W Wet w

Assume trim conditions before perturbation This means that 9e Pe re O Ue O

X m O rVtqW m WE tu lrefrllvetvl 19etqllwe.tw

no neo r V
g w are all very Sm
X m u We rut qWe qw perturbations andmultiplying t
makes them negligable

X m v r Ve
qwe This is the linear form
 Y
Y m V pw rU m Ndtv lpetpllwe.tw their wet u
Y m i pwe put true rt
Y m V pwe rue linear form

Zoo
Z m W qu pv m Wettin getty Veto peep Weta
m w que ga t p Ve pit
2 m w que pre linear form

Applying the same concept to the moment equations givess

linearizedequations of
motionsTranslation Ask why components with
Ve in them got deleted
Answer because we assume no
side slip so Ve O
linearized equations of
motion8 Rotation

Now lets find expressionsfor the forces and moments components

Gravitational terms Yg Yg Zg Lg Mg Ng
Forces at equilibrium
xb
p
Xge MgSinQe
te f
Yge 0
Assumption
10 4 0 Zge mgcos Qe
mg
Lge Mge Nge 0 because weight acts
at Cc
2b
How will those forces change after perturbation

Ge Gill use the direct cosine matrix to move from the axis before perturbation to
that after perturbations
 I o
1 31
Remember D from chapter 28
T Q
y
it
7 7
11 nd
a

10 al go i nd f n't d Q d 4 Are small but

n't nI il not veryverysmall
i t o a e y i e Sino 10 sin 0 0
aT f n t n n n n
7lo I
it
7
0 nI

D any perturbations multiplied together are

o
0 047
u
up
o of
y J negligable

f To II
lH I Him
Aerodynamic terms
assume trim at straight level flight
no sideslip Ve
Pe 9e re 0
wing is level de O
not climbing or descending 8e O
no initial yaw He

Initially the aircraft is in trim and suddenly disturbances happenThe speed of the aircraft
changes in all directions IV V W and the aircraft rotates meaning it has angular velocities
and angular accelerations As a result of this the aerodynamic forces and moments
are
going to change
The bestway to describ
howthey changeis ing
change in speed v
taylor
trim disturbances
change in aerodynamic series
Presence of angular forces andmoments
velocities and
accelerations
 The Taylor series expansion of
the perturbation in u

In thiscourse we will limit ourself

to the firstderivative Why
because if u is small then v2u
are very verysmall

After cancelling the second order terms and terms of higher orderderivates we
gets
Xa Xaet Off u
Off v dfw w t do
p t
Xp doxqqtdoxrtdoxw.ci
we will be using the british notations for thisexpression this sign mean
that the ter
Xa xaetkuutxvvtxww xpp X.gg Rrr t Kwai is dimension
T T T T T T T
The aerodynamic stability derivatives

similarity we can get Ya Za La Ma Na

How can we get the aerodynamic stability derivatives

They depend on aerodynamic features and geometry So given the geometry
of the aircraft we can use the equations at the end of the book to find them
not sure whatequations though
Control terms

assume pilot can only control the threeprimary control surfaces

 er g n ao ang rd ang ang
measured from
The symbols of the angles look awful but we move equilibrium state

Mc Mess ring rises

T 9
control derivatives

The pitching moment is mainly affected by the elevator angle compared totherudderand
aileron angles We are going to simplify the equation later based on this

similarity
Lc Egg Cnn 45
Xc Is Inn t 155

Power terms

In trim steady level flight we have thrust equalling drag A perturbation

in thrust E leads to a change in forces and moments that act on the plane

Xp KET Lp IT F perturbation in Thrust

Yp Yet Mp MIT
Zp Eet Np NET
Now we obtained an expression for all terms we can substitute back into the
force and moments equations

aerodynamic Looks scarybutdont

gravitational worry we are going to
control simplify it further
power

no gravitational terms
because gravity acts

ifeng.IE Eibute
 These equations applyfor perturbation but whathappens if we have no perturbation
ie at trims
r r r r
all terms with
perturbations are
cancelled
r r
r r r r r

r r r
r r r
r r r
r r r
r r r v
r r
we are left with
Xae mgsince Lae O
The equations at trim
Yae O Mae o

Zae mgCoste Nae 0

Going back to the equations with the perturbations we can decouple the 6 equatio
into 3eqns for longitudinal stability and 3equs for lateral directional stability
X Z M Y L N
pitch and translation in x z planet troll yawand sideslip
so why did we decouple them

it makes our life easy because in longitudinal we care about 9 u w whilst

p r v can be set to w0 since they don't affect the longitudinal stability For lateral
directional stability u
g can be set to 0 since they dont affect the lateral
directional stability
in longitudinal the 2 main pilot input are 2and I all others are
set to 0
in lateral directional the 2 main inputs are and 5

so now lets cancel all the non effecting terms

 Longitudinal s

Simplifiedform longitudinal s

The variables here

4W q 0 we call them
States of longitudinal
motion

Final simplification these equations are in the body axis moving from this equation to
Assuming level flight 8e 0 the next was a previous quiz
wind axis Ue Vo question knowing the assumptions
Ve O Qe 0 is key
We
Final form of an airplane
in level flight

Lateral directional3

Simplifiedform lateral directional

The variables here are

V p r 0,4 we call
them States of lateral
directional motion
 Final simplification these equations are in the body axis
Assuming level flight Oe We
wind axis
Final form of an airplane
in level flight

Ghat we did simple analogy to understand what are we studying

Ya
our system is clearly nonlinear
we took an equilibrium point and studied small perturbations
around this point and so we could assume it is linear using
all the assumptions wemade

0C

Previous exam questions

step 1 decouple them into longitudinal X Z M and lateral directional 14 N L

 longitudinal8 Lateral directional
pr v 0 To know why go qUw O
E and 5 0 over notes on p and 2 0
decoupling
to convert them to wind axis we know that Ge Qe O

longitudinal
lateraldirectional T

r r
e r r

r r r
r r
r r
I r r r
r r
r r r

Final answer
Longitudinal stability Lateraldirectional stability

Non dimensionalising the equationss

First lets look at the units of one of those equations

Remember
X dimensional
we want u todo this conversion
X dimension less
This is force equation and so all
a
terms should have a unit of Newtons
e.g
Iwai Newtons
Xq q Newtons
V v
Im kg.in Ird Kg m
v
S2 S2 v g S2
KS
 gm I d s no sd d n
s

How to nondimensionalise the stability derivatives e

g Iq Xg
eg.tl u
because we have
kg this means we need to divide by P
Xq Iq Kg m
se because we have mls we need to divide
PVo5aE by velocity Vo
to cancel out the m3 of the density

eg2 Kai
Xiu kge means density
ZPSE
to cancel the m

EB zu Zu 1 means density
2PVosr e means velocity

to cancel the m2

The conversions are available in a table at the back of the book

Now that we know how to nondimensionalise terms lets non dimensional.se the
equations of motions
Before we start we need to define some terms

dimensionless time I to where o m longitudinal relativedensityfactor

µ m
2pros 2PSE

Dimensionless velocities D w of go
if ftp.g
derivative derivative derivative
 a day date
or ai ddaf.ddtp wjo.ro of daff deted go 0 802

For longitudinal only

So lets nondimensionalse the longitudinal equationsas

Ines effuivailanntenton

kgm 15
first term we need to non dimensionalize both m and i individually

ni ni nii
tanks Fse ivE M

second term we need to non dimensionalize bothYou and U individually

Yuu Yu
kgg.in
KI from the knowns we state above or using dimenasnioanya's
L
Xiu Xu.vn
b skis g fo
we cancelled the unit of using the denominator

third term we need to non dimensionalize bothKai andw individually

Icici Kgm Iw kg
M S2
A
S2 I w
v v M v

gig wage
WE xw.ci I Xu xw.ci
Vo Vo Vo Mi

addedtonon
dimensionalize

fourthterm we need to non dimensionalize both Xu and w individually

o o
Xww Kgtm Xw kgg

o o
Xww Xw W Xw w
ZPVo2S TiVos Vo
fifth term we need to non dimensionalize both Xg and q individually

Igg ligny Ig Kgg q

a

Iffhs izxq.se
e
got xq 9
qj xq.ci
M

added to non
dimensionalize Note An advantage
of making the equati
sixth term nondimensional is that
we can look at the
MgO in level flight L mg and so L CL equations of motions a
tzPVo2S bPUTS out the size and
sc t of theaircraft
CLO

seventhterm
already nondimensional

ffg oxy
Errors
u
2 Xyz

eighthterm

Yet Tiggy since T is a force then It is nondimensional already

X IT XI c XeE be dimensionalised all terms

Teres Leroy
Lets look at the moment equations

EIVESE

first term my
KIMI
Miu Mou
Kgg Kym

Auv Mu 0
I Jose Yo
IPKise

fourth term Ask the Dr Something is wronghere

Iygo Kgmg Iy Kgm2

off E
 It fire iy.gg fo iy.qo g
Effuse e iy
if we apply this to all terms we get the nondimensionalRed longitudinal equations ofmotions

Applying the same concept to lateraldirectional stability using thefollowing

imai9esifinoan'ai2edeguations

lgng.nu
of motion

Example 4.1

z
soo
pilotseat
ie

xe s
t
z

v
Z

we have the extra terms because the

pilot is not sitting at CG

at the top and bottom there is no tangential acceleration therefore acceleration in x

is 0 The motion isn't in O too we are left with a'z
y so ay
 n n n a
p
steady velocity Performing longitudinal motion steady state
noacceleration Pr v 0

a'z QU zq2 2 1 U 100m15 E 2K 0.314

2osec
Tis term is because the pilot is not at C

Bottom
31.3 m 15 az N
load factor n N n

mg
8
N m Igtlait
n Mr Igt 1a'd
Ag
n 1 lag't 4.19 The pilotfeels
4.19times heavier Vmg
atthebottomofthe v mlait
loop

Tops nmlaz't

n millaz't g
AS m1az't
Ntmg
n I 2.19
lag N mHae't g

Ntmg