HVHKVN-KTHK

AIRCRAFT CONTROL AND

STABILITY

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Phần 1 Phần 2 Phần 3 Phần 4 Phần 5

Character The Basic Basic Mass Stability Aircraft
-istics Concept Limitation Flight
quantities Control

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelope a
planet or other material body, which is held in place by the gravity of
that body. The atmosphere of Earth is composed of nitrogen (about
78%), oxygen (about 21%), argon (about 0.9%), carbon dioxide
(0.04%) and other gases in trace amounts.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Atmosphere
▪ Equation of state for an ideal gas:
 p: atmospheric pressure (N/m 2 )
p =  RT trong ρ: air density (kg/m3 )
đó,  R: specific gas constant (for dry air: R = 287.053 J/kg.K)

T: absolute temperature ( o K)


A standard model of the atmosphere adopted by the International Civil

Aviation Organization (ICAO). The principal features are the assumption
of a standard mean sea-level:
go = 9.806 (m/s2) po = 1.013×105 (N/m2)
To = 15 oC = 288.15 oK o = 1.225 (kg/m3)

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Z
1. Characteristic quantities
6000 m

❑ Pressure
Ptotal = Pstatic + Pdynamic
1 hPa = 15,5 m. (511Ft)
Pdynamic = V 2
4000 m 2
Bernoulli's equation for an incompressible fluid 1013,25 Hpa
1 hPa = 12,5 m. (41 Ft)
1 1
V + p = V 2 + p = pT = const
2

2
2000 m
2
- With p0 is the pressure of the air at sea level, p is the pressure of the
air at any altitude,1we
hPa = 8,5 m. (28 Ft)
have:
p
=
p0 0m
P.
472 hpa 616 hpa 795 hpa 1013 hpa

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Z
1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure
Ptotal = Pstatic + Pdynamic
1
V 2
Pdynamic =
2
Bernoulli's equation for an incompressible fluid

1 1
V + p = V 2 + p = pT = const
2

2 2
- With p0 is the pressure of the air at sea level, p is the pressure of the
air at any altitude, we have:
p
=
p0
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure

Pitot tube
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure

Static port
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Áp suất

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1. Characteristic quantities QNE (1013, Standard MSL) -> FL

QNH (Local MSL) -> Altitute
❑ Pressure altitude

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1. Characteristic quantities QNE (1013, Standard MSL) -> FL

QNH (Local MSL) -> Altitute
❑ Pressure altitude

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Pressure altitude

Flight Levels

Transition Level
Transition Layer
Transition Altitude

Transition
Level
Transition
Altitude
QFE
1013.2
MSL QNH
1013.2
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Temperature
- Temperature: a measure of how hot or cold something is; specifically
a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in an object.

- Temperature units 9
TF = TC + 32
5
5
TK = TC + 273.15 = (TF + 459.67 )
9
TR = TF + 459.67
- With T0 is the atmospheric temperature at sea level, T is the
atmospheric temperature at any altitude, we have:
T
=
T0
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1. Characteristic quantities
32 km Mesopause
❑ Temperature
Inversion
Mesosphere

20 km Stratopause

Isothermal Stratosphere
15° C
11 km Tropopause

- 6,5° every 1000 m.

Troposphere
- 2° every 1000 Ft

T T°
0
-100° -80°
 =-60° -40° -20° 0° 20° 40°
T0
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1. Characteristic quantities
Mass
❑ Density =
Unit volume
Witt  is the density at any altitude, and 0 is the density at sea level,
we have:

=
0
❑ Viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's resistance to flow. It describes the
internal friction of a moving fluid. A fluid with large viscosity resists
motion because its molecular makeup gives it a lot of internal friction. A
fluid with low viscosity flows easily because its molecular makeup
results in very little friction when it is in motion.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Speed
- VCAS (Calibrated airspeed): means the speed of an aircraft as shown
on its pitot static airspeed indicator calibrated to reflect standard
atmosphere adiabatic compressible flow at sea level uncorrected for
airspeed system errors. It uses the difference between total pressure
and static pressure. Since the airspeed indicator cannot know the
density, it is by design calibrated to assume the sea level standard
atmospheric density when calculating airspeed.
1
2 𝑃𝑇 − 𝑃 2
𝑉𝐶𝐴𝑆 =
𝜌0

- VIAS (Indicated Airspeed): is the CAS corrected for instrument and

position error.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Speed
VEAS (Equivalent Airspeed): is defined as the airspeed at sea level in the
International Standard Atmosphere at which the (incompressible)
dynamic pressure is the same as the dynamic pressure at the true
airspeed (TAS) and altitude at which the aircraft is flying. That is, it is
defined by the equation:
 γ

V 2
2  γ − 1 2  γ −1  VIAS
EAS
= 1 + M  −1 where M=
( a h=0 ) γ  2   a h=0
2

 

- VTAS (True Airspeed): is the speed of your aircraft relative to the air it's
flying through. V
VTAS = EAS

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Speed
- VGS (Ground speed): The speed of
an aircraft relative to the surface of
the earth. Groundspeed is a vector
sum of True Airspeed (TAS) and
wind velocity.
- With tailwind: VGS increase

VGS = VTAS + Vwind

• With headwind: VGS decrease

VGS = VTAS − Vwind

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Speed Ground Speed = True Air Speed ± Wind Component

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Speed
- Relative wind: the relative wind is the direction of movement of
the atmosphere relative to an aircraft wing. It is opposite to the
direction of movement of the aircraft or airfoil relative to the
atmosphere.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Speed
- Mach number is a dimensionless quantity representing the ratio of
flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound.
V
M=
a

a =  RT

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Axis

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Force

Lực nâng (Lift)

Lực cản (Drag)

Note: Lift is defined as the force that is perpendicular to the

incoming flow and drag parallel to the incoming flow

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Force

Pilot Handbook - FAA

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Force

Pilot Handbook - FAA

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1. Characteristic quantities

Lift is the force that acts at a

right angle to the direction of
motion through the air. Lift is
created by differences in air
pressure.

Weight is the force of

gravity. It acts in a
downward direction—
toward the center of the
Earth.
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Angle of attack

Angle of attack (AoA) is the angle between the oncoming air or

relative wind and a the wing chord line. It is denoted by the greec
letter 

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Diheral angle
The dihedral angle is defined as the spanwise inclination of the wing
with respect to the horizontal.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Bank angle
The bank angle is the angle at which the vehicle is inclined about its
longitudinal axis with respect to the horizontal.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Lift

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Lift

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Lift

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Lift
Flaps increase camber equally on both wings

Increase lift and drag at slow speeds for

takeoff and landing
Increased Camber

Flap Retracted

Flap Extended

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Drag

1
L=    V 2  S  CL
2
1
D =    V 2  S  CD
2
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Form Drag
Xét ba trường hợp sau:

Form Drag decrease

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Friction Drag

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Friction Drag

Friction drag
increase

The form drag will decrease as the friction drag increases, and vice versa
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Interference Drag

Do cánh
Giá treo

Động cơ
Tổng cộng

Interference drag comes from the intersection of airstreams that creates eddy
currents, turbulence, or restricts smooth airflow.
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Interference Drag

Do cánh
Giá treo

Động cơ
Tổng cộng

Interference drag comes from the intersection of airstreams that creates eddy
currents, turbulence, or restricts smooth airflow.
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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Wave Drag

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Wave Drag

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Moment
Pitch
Motion about the lateral axis

Roll
Motion about the longitudinal axis

Yaw
Motion about the vertical axis

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Thrust
Thrust is the force which moves an aircraft through the air. Thrust is
generated most often through the reaction of accelerating a mass of
gas.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Power

Power is the rate of doing work, the amount of energy (ΔE)

transferred per unit time (Δt).
E W F  s
P= = = = F  V (F, V = const)
t t t
PowerTotal = PowerInduced + PowerParasite

PowerInduced: is the power required to maintain enough lift to overcome

the force of gravity.
Powerparasite: is the power required to overcome the drag of the body.

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Wing tip vortex (wake turbulence)
Pressure imbalance on the top and
bottom surface:
⇒Flow near the wing-tips tend to
curl around the tips
• On the top surface: spanwise
flow from tip to root➔ streamlines
bend toward root
• On the bottom surface : spanwise
flow from root to tip➔ streamlines
bend toward tip
➔ Flows over finite wing are 3D:
different aerodynamic properties
from airfoil

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Wing tip vortex (wake turbulence)

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Wing tip vortex (wake turbulence)

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑Wing tip vortex (wake turbulence)

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Ground Effect
If the wing is close to the ground, approximately half of the wing span,
the wing tip vortices are deflected. This deflection reduces the amount
of induced drag.

• More vertical lift, which opposes weight

• Less rearward lift, which reduces drag
• Smaller vortices and less downwash, which reduces drag

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1. Characteristic quantities
❑ Ground Effect
It is the name given to the
positive influence on the
lifting characteristics of the
horizontal surfaces of an
aircraft wing when it is
close to the ground. This
effect is a consequence of
the distortion of the airflow
below such surfaces
attributable to the proximity
of the ground. It applies to
both fixed and rotary wing
aircraft.

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2. The basic concepts

Aircraft Flight Mechanics (Cơ học bay): can be divided into five broad
areas: trajectory analysis (performance), stability and control, aircraft
sizing, simulation, and flight testing.
Aircraft Performance (Tính năng tàu bay): is the capability of aircraft at
various phases of flight. It is discussed in this subjects to show the
physical limitations concern the configuration of the aircraft and the
characteristics of the runways from which it takes off and lands.
Aircraft Stability (Ổn định tàu bay): is basically defined as an aircraft's
ability to maintain/return to original flight path (after having been
slightly disturbed from that condition) without any efforts on the part of
the pilot.
Aircraft flight Control (Điều khiển tàu bay): Forces and moments
produced by pilot inputs to bring the airplane back to equilibrium after
disturbance (the direction and attitude of an aircraft in flight).
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2. The basic concepts

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2. The basic concepts

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2. The basic concepts

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2. The basic concepts

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2. The basic concepts

European regulation (EASA)

REGULATION

ORGANISATION TECHNICAL

Prod/ Concept Part-21 A/C  5.7 T CS-23

Operation JAR OPS A/C  5.7 T CS-25

Maintenance Part-145 Engines/APU CS-E/APU

License Part-66 Propellers CS-P

Training Part-147 Very light A/C CS-VLA

organisation

A/C: Aircraft
CS: Certification specifications 60
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2. The basic concepts

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Load factor (hệ số tải)
In aeronautics, the load factor is defined as the ratio of the lift of an
aircraft to its weight and has a trigonometric relationship. It represents
a global measure of the stress ("load") to which the structure of the
aircraft is subjected.
Lift L
n= =
Weight mg
Since the load factor is the ratio of two forces, it is dimensionless.
However, its units are traditionally referred to as Gs, because of the
relation between load factor and apparent acceleration of gravity felt
on board the aircraft.
Load factors greater or less than one (or even negative) are the result
of Aircraft Performing manoeuvres or wind gusts.

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Load factor (hệ số tải)

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Giới hạn của load factor
Limit load: is defined as the maximum load that an aircraft is
expected to see at any point in the service life of that aircraft. Any part
of the structure of an aircraft must be able to support the limit load
without permanent deformation.
Ultimate load: is the amount of load applied to a component beyond
which the component will fail. The chance that it will occur is,
however, not zero, and, if it were to occur, then the relevant structure
in the aircraft would stand a large chance of fracture.
Ultimate load  Limit load  Factor of Satefy ( = 1.5 )

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Giới hạn của load factor

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Giới hạn của load factor

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Ảnh hưởng của wind gust

A gust is a sudden change in the wind velocity. It can be broken down

into two parts:
• A horizontal component. Example: wind shear
• A vertical component called updraft or downdraft and clear air
turbulence.

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Ảnh hưởng của wind gust
Horizontal gust: (gió giật ngang)
Let us consider a horizontal gust first. An aircraft in level flight at a
velocity V encounters a gust of intensity ± u. the positive sign being
for a gust that increases the relative wind.

1
Lgust 2  (V  u ) 2
SCL
n= =
W W
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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Ảnh hưởng của wind gust
Horizontal gust: (gió giật ngang)

Because the aircraft was in level flight before the gust, L = W.

As well, due to the sudden nature of a gust and to the aircraft's inertia,
the α, thus CL, remains essentially the same.

1
Lgust 2  (V  u ) SCL (V  u ) 2
2
2u
ngust = = = 2
1
W W V V

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Ảnh hưởng của wind gust
Vertical gust:
(gió giật thẳng đứng)
A vertical gust, on the other hand,
will change the (increasing it for
an updraft and decreasing it for a
downdraft) α, a value angle is 𝛥α.

u > 0: gust increase α.

Lgust Lgust CL  CLgust

ngust = = =
W L CL
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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Ảnh hưởng của wind gust
Vertical gust:
(gió giật đứng)

where: CLgust dCLgust dCL So u << V:

= =
 gust d  gust d u
tan  gust =   gust
dCL V
 CLgust =  gust
d

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3. Basic mass limitations

❑Ảnh hưởng của wind gust
Vertical gust: (gió giật đứng)

dCL dCL u dCL

 gust   u V
ngust = 1  d = 1  d V = 1    d
CL W   mg 
2  2 
S  S 
V 2

 ngust = 1  ku

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4. Stability

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4. Stability
❑Static Stability
Equilibrium (or flying at a trim condition): the sum of the forces
must be zero and they must produce no moment.

Static Stability: The initial tendency of an airplane when disturbed to

return to its original position.

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4. Stability
❑Dynamic Stability
Dynamic stability: refers to the aircrafts subsequent response over
time when disturbed (The overall tendency of an aircraft, when
disturbed, to return to its original position).

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4. Stability
❑Dynamic Stability
Positive dynamic stability – over time, the motion of the displaced
object decreases in amplitude and returns back towards its original
equilibrium state.

Positive static
stability

Positive Dynamic Stability

Returns to Aircraft is Original attitude
original disturbed
attitude

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4. Stability
❑Dynamic Stability
Neutral dynamic stability – once displaced, the displaced object
neither decreases or increases in amplitude.

Positive static
stability

Neutral Dynamic Stability Aircraft is Original attitude

Will continue to disturbed
oscillate about
original attitude

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4. Stability
❑Dynamic Stability
Negative dynamic stability – over time, the motion of the displaced
object increases and becomes more divergent.

Positive
static stability
Diverges from
original attitude

Aircraft is Original
disturbed attitude

Negative Dynamic Stability

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4. Stability
❑Dynamic Stability
Aircraft may be statically unstable, but dynamically stable

Longitudinal Stability Over a long period,

aircraft recovers.
6 Dynamically stable.
Alpha, in degrees

5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time, in seconds

Initial tendency may be to pitch the nose up

Statically unstable.

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
When designing an aircraft, a great deal of effort is spend in developing
stability around all three axis:
• Stability around the longitudinal axis is known as lateral stability
• Stability around the lateral axis is known as longitudinal stability
• Stability around the vertical axis is known as directional stability

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability
A longitudinally unstable aircraft has the tendency to descent or climb
or even a stall.

Longitudinal stability is affected by:

1. Size and position of horizontal stabilizer
2. Position of the CG (center of gravity)

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability – Position of the CG
We know in a correctly loaded aircraft the centre of pressure
(aerodynamic) should be behind the centre of gravity.

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability – Horizontal Stabilizer

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability – Horizontal Stabilizer
Because of the length of the moment arm between the CG and the
tailplane, the aerodynamic force need not be great for it to have an effect.
• The further forward the CG, the greater the moment arm of the
tailplane, therefore the greater the force of the tailplane. This has
a strong stabilising effect longitudinally.
• An aft CG reduces the moment arm and therefore reduces
longitudinal stability.

CG CoP Tailplane CG CoP Tailplane

Long arm - stable Short arm – less stable

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability – Wing pitching Moment
We know in a correctly loaded aircraft the CP should be behind the CG.
As AoA increase the centre of pressure moves forward.

LIFT LIFT

WEIGHT

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability – Horizontal Stabilizer
If the CG is placed too far reward the CP will then go in front of the CG. This
will create a Nose pitch up moments making the aircraft unstable.

LIFT

WEIGHT

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability

Lift produced on Nose up disturbance

Tailplane pitches Presents tailplane at
Aircraft back to Higher angle of attack
Level flight. to airflow.
LIFT

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Longitudinal stability

Negative lift Nose down

Produced on the Disturbance presents
Tailplane pitches Tailplane at a
Aircraft back to Negative angle of
Level flight. Attack to airflow.

NEGATIVE
LIFT

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability
Stability around the longitudinal axis
Also known as roll stability

There are a number of design factors which

make an aircraft laterally stable:
• Dihedral
• Sweepback
• Keel effect
• Wing position
• Weight distribution

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability - Diheral
Dihedral is the most common way
for producing lateral stability, here
the wingtips are inclined upwards
with respect to the wing roots
Restoring Moment
If the aircraft is displaced, for
example by a gust of wind, a flow Lift
of air will strike the down going
wing at a higher angle of attack Lift
with a resultant increase in lift. =>
rolling moment opposing the initial
displacement. AoA
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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability – Wing Position
A high wing aircraft is more laterally
stable than a low wing for two reasons:
1. Here we can see the aircraft has
been displaced in roll, as the aircraft
begins to slip the fuselage will block Restoring Moment
the lateral component of the relative
Lift
airflow on the up going wing
Lift
This will result in the up going wing
creating less lift resulting in the
restoring moment, this is known as Shielding
shielding
AoA

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability – Wing position Restoring Moment
2. The second reason is due to the
distance between the CP and CG
Here we can see the aircraft has been Lift
displaced in roll creating a lateral
couple between the CP and CG
resulting in the restoring moment
The combined effect of these two
restoring moments may make the Weight
aircraft so stable that it becomes
uncontrollable, in this case the aircraft
may be built with anhedral wings
which can be seen as the opposite of
dihedral
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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability – Keel (or pendulum) effect
The keel effect involves the
positioning of the plane’s
centre of gravity. In very
simplistic terms, the keel
effect means that aeroplanes
with a CG below the wing are
more stable than those with
a CG above the wing.

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral
stability -
Sweepback

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability - Sweepback

When a disturbance causes an

aircraft with sweepback to slip or
drop a wing, the low wing presents
its leading edge at an angle that is
more perpendicular to the relative
airflow. As a result, the low wing
acquires more lift, rises, and the
aircraft is restored to its original
flight attitude.

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Lateral stability - Distribution of Weight

Proper distribution of weight will aid in keeping the aircraft level

If too much weight is on one side, the aircraft may not have enough
aileron authority to maintain level flight

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Directional stability

If an aircraft is made to yaw to

one side by an air disturbance,
the side-wind blowing on its
fuselage and fin surfaces creates
a sideways force which, on areas
to the rear of the centre of
gravity, will tend to yaw the
aircraft back to its original
heading, just like a weathercock.

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Directional stability

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Directional stability
The aircraft designer must
ensure positive directional
stability by making the side
surface greater aft than
ahead of the CG

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Directional stability – Vertical Tail surface (fin and rudder)

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability
Directional stability

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4. Stability
❑ Longitudinal, Lateral and Directional Stability

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4. Stability
❑ Dutch roll
Dutch roll is a coupled lateral/directional oscillation (with strong lateral
stability and weak directional stability) that is usually dynamically
stable but is unsafe in an aircraft because of the oscillatory nature.
The damping of the oscillatory mode may be weak or strong
depending on the properties of the particular aircraft.

Dutch roll usually die out automatically in very few cycles unless the
air continues to be gusty or turbulent.

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4. Stability
❑ Dutch roll

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4. Stability
❑ Dutch roll

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4. Stability
❑ Spiral Instability
Found in aircraft with strong directional stabiliy but weak lateral
stability.
If it is disturbed in roll it will continue to roll in the same direction, the
increased angle of bank leads to more yaw and more roll so the nose
begins to drop.
Without pilot input the aircraft will enter a steep spiral dive.

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4. Stability
❑ Spiral Instability

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4. Stability
❑ Spiral Instability

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5. Aircraft flight control

• Wing
− Flap/ Slat
− Aileron

• Tail
− Rudder
− Elevator

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5. Aircraft flight control

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Flap/ Slat
Extended for approach, landing and take-off to increase the lift of the
wings at low speed.
Flap: Attached to the TE and Slat: Protrusions from LE

• downward deflection • upward deflection

increases angle of attack decreases angle of attack
• lift is increased • lift is reduced

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Flap/ Slat

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Flap/ Slat

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Flap/ Slat

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Flap/ Slat

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5. Aircraft flight control

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5. Aircraft flight control

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Ailerons

Aircraft heading or
direction of flight is
changed by rolling the
aircraft using the
ailerons.
Ailerons are controlled
by twisting the yoke
(or stick, control
column) to the left or
right.

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Ailerons

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5. Aircraft flight control

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Elevators
They control the pitch (nose-up
or nose-down ) state of the
aircraft.

Elevators are controlled by

pushing the yoke to the back or
forward.

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Elevators

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Rudders
Control the yaw of the airplane.

Rudder permits the pilot to

move the tail of the aircraft left
or right by use of the rudder
pedals in the cockpit.

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Rudders

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Rudders

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5. Aircraft flight control

Pitch
Motion about the lateral axis
Longitudinal stability
Controlled by the elevator

Roll
Motion about the longitudinal axis
Lateral Stability
Controlled by the ailerons

Yaw
Motion about the vertical axis
Directional stability
Controlled by the rudder
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5. Aircraft flight control

Axis Motion Stabilized by Control Pilot Control

Longitudinal Roll Wings Aileron Yoke twist left

or right
Lateral Pitch Horizontal Elevator Yoke forward
stabilizer or aft
Vertical Yaw Vertical Rudder Rudder pedals
stabilizer

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5. Aircraft flight control

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Secondary effect of Ailerons

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Secondary effect of Ailerons

8. Why do you normally apply rudder when applying aileron?

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Secondary effect of Rudders

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Secondary effect of Elevators

If the elevator is used to pitch the nose of the aircraft up, this has the
secondary effect of increasing the angle-of-attack of the wing and so
more lift is generated which will make the aircraft climb. However, at
the same time the change of attitude will increase the drag of the
aircraft which will tend to slow it down and cause it to descend. So,
provided the engine output remains the same, the secondary effects
of the elevator are to control the speed of the aircraft.

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5. Aircraft flight control

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5. Aircraft flight control TRIM TAB

❑Trim tabs
TAILPLANE
ELEVATOR

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Trim tabs
If the pilot has to maintain a backwards pressure on the control
column to maintain level flight. DOWNWARD FORCE TO KEEP
AIRCRAFT NOSE UP

By moving the trim tab down, the increase in angle of attack will
cause the elevator force to be counteracted.
SMALLER FORCE
DOWNWARD FORCE TO KEEP TO BALANCE
AIRCRAFT NOSE UP ELEVATOR FORCE

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5. Aircraft flight control

❑Trim tabs

TRIM
TABS

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