Title: PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT
1 PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT
2DEFINITIONS
3- Mass - Mass is the quantity of matter in a body
- Density - Density is the mass per unit volume.
- Pressure - Pressure is the force per unit
area. (Units- lbs / sq inch)
4- Momentum - The quantity of motion in a body is
known as momentum of the body and is equal to the
product of mass and velocity (M m x v) - Motion - When a body changes its position in
relation to its surroundings. - Speed - Speed is the rate of change of position.
5- Velocity - Velocity is the speed in a particular
direction. Velocity is a vector quantity
having both magnitude and direction. - Acceleration - Acceleration is the rate of
change of velocity.
6- Work - Work is said to be done on a body when a
force acting on it physically moves the point of
application in the direction of the force.
Work done Force x Distance moved in the
direction of force (Units
Foot Pounds) - Power - Power is the rate of doing work. (One
horse power is equals to 550 lbs/sec)
7- Energy - Energy is the capacity to do the
work. Energy can exist in many forms i.e heat,
light, electrical, sound, chemical, atomic,
pressure, mechanical etc... - Potential Energy - Due to the position of a body
above ground level. Potential Energy
(PE) Mgh - Kinetic Energy - Due to the motion in the
body. Kinetic Energy (KE) ½ mv²
8- Couple - A couple consists of two equal,
opposite and parallel forces not acting through
the same point. - Equilibrium - A body is said to be in
equilibrium when (a) Algebraic sum of all
the forces acting on the body is zero. (b)
Clockwise moment is equal to the anticlockwise
moment about any point.
9- Boyles Law - The volume of a given mass of a
perfect gas is inversely proportional to the
pressure, provided the temperature remains
constant. p x v constant (temp unchanged) - Charles Law - The volume of a perfect gas
increases by 1/273 of its value at 0C for every
degree C rise in temperature, provided the
pressure remains constant.
10 Laws Of Motion
11- Newtons First Law Of Motion - A body which is
in a state of rest or of its uniform motion will
continue to be in the same state unless an
external force is applied upon it. This
property of all bodies is called inertia and a
body in such a state is said to be in
equilibrium.
12- Newtons Second Law Of Motion - The rate of
change of momentum of a body is directly
proportional to the applied force and takes place
in the direction of the application of the said
force. - Newtons Third Law Of Motion - To every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction.
13 GLOSSARY OF TERMS
14- Aerofoil - A body is designed to produce more
lift than drag. A typical aerofoil
section which is cambered on top surface and is
more or less straight at bottom surface.
15- Chord Line - It is a line joining the centre of
curvature of leading and trailing edges of an
aerofoil section. - Chord Length - It is the length of chord line
intercepted between the leading and trailing
edges.
16- Angle Of Attack - It is the angle between the
chord line and the relative airflow undisturbed
by the presence of aerofoil. - Angle Of Incidence - The angle between the chord
line and the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
17- Angle of Incidence - The angle between the chord
line and the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. - Total Reaction - It is a single force
representing all the pressures ( force per unit
area ) over the surface of the aerofoil. It
acts through the centre of pressure which is
situated on the chord line.
18- Lift - The vertical component of total reaction
resolved at right angles to the relative air
flow. - Drag - The horizontal component of the total
reaction acting parallel and in the same
direction as the relative airflow.
19 ATMOSPHERE
20 Introduction -
- The word Atmosphere is derived from the Greek
Atoms means vapour and phere means
sphere. - Atmosphere means the gaseous sphere surrounding
the earth.
21 Composition -
- Air is a mixture of number of gases consisting of
- Nitrogen - 78.03
Oxygen - 20.99 Argon - 00.94
CO2 and other gases - 00.04
22- Apart from the above gases air also contains some
impurities like dust and salt particles. - Water vapour and traces of other gases are also
present.
23 Divisions Of Atmosphere -
- The atmosphere is divided in four main regions -
- Tropo Sphere
- Strato Sphere
- Iono Sphere
- Exo Sphere
24- Tropo Sphere - It extends from the surface to a
height of about 9 km near the poles and 17 km
near the equator. - Tropo pause- Tropo pause is the dividing line
between Tropo Sphere and Strato Sphere.
25- Strato Sphere - It extends from the
Tropopause upto a height of about 3 km. - Iono Sphere - Above Stratosphere, it extends
upto a height of 24 km. - Exo Sphere - It extends from Ionosphere upto a
height of 1126.5 km.
26Temperature -
- The temperature of earths surface depends almost
entirely upon the heat received from the sun. As
a rule, temperature decreases with height. The
hotter the earths surface becomes, more readily
it radiates its heat back again to space. - Heat is transferred by three methods i.e. (i)
Conduction (ii) Convection and (iii) Radiation - The instrument used for measuring temperature is
called thermometer and the units of measure is
either Fahrenheit or Centigrade in degrees.
27 Variation of Temp with Height-
- In the atmosphere the temperature as a rule
decreases with height. - Lapse rate - The decrease of temperature with
height is known as Lapse and the rate of
decrease is known as Lapse Rate.
28Air Density -
- The density of air is defined as the mass of the
air contained in unit volume and is measured in
grams per cubic meter. - Presence of water vapour in the atmosphere
decreases the air density. Also the air density
decreases if pressure decreases or its
temperature increases.
29Variation of Density -
- Variation of air density at the surface - At the
surface, variations of air density are due to
temperature variations. When temperature is
maximum, air density is minimum and vice-versa. - Variation of density with height - Air density
decreases with height mainly due to the effect of
the pressure. The decrease in air density with
height due to fall in pressure is much more than
the increase in air density due to fall in
temperature with height.
30 BERNAULIs THEOREM VENTURI EFFECT
31 Bernaulis Theorem -
- In the early days of the Industrial
revolution, Daniel Bernauli, an Italian
physicist, discovered certain properties relating
to fluids in motion, which he summarized as
follows- - The total energy in a moving fluid is the
total sum of three forms of energy i.e.
Potential, Kinetic and Pressure Energy. - In a stream line flow of an ideal fluid,
the sum of all these three energies remains
constant.
32 Venturi Tube -
- A tube which has inlet portion gradually
narrowing then a throat or neck followed by an
out let which widens gradually is called a
venturi tube or convergent / divergent duct.
33Venturi Tube -
34Venturi effect and Bernaulis Theorem -
- In the previous chapter, we have seen that for a
flow of air to remain streamlined, the volume
passing at a given point in unit time must
remain constant. - If a venturi tube is placed in such an air
stream, then the mass flow in the venturi tube
must also remain constant and streamlined. - In order to achieve this and still pass through
the restricted section of the venturi, and
accompanying pressure drop is a natural
consequence according to Bernaulis theorem.
35- Therefore when a wing moves through the air, the
pressure on the upper surface is less than
atmospheric and more than atmospheric on the
bottom surface. This pressure difference existing
between the top and bottom surface, is the main
lifting force of a flying aircraft.
36 Venturi Effect -
- When a stream line air flow is passing through a
venturi tube the mass flow remains constant at
all points in the tube. - Since the cross sectional area at throat is less,
to maintain the constant air flow either the air
should get compressed or it should speed up.
37- It almost behaves like an incompressible fluid
and therefore speeds up. - Its kinetic energy is increased and therefore
according to Bernaulis theorem the pressure
energy drops. - This phenomenon is called Venturi Effect.
38 FORCES ACTING ON AIRCRAFT
39Introduction -
- An aircraft is considered to be in straight and
level flight when it is flying at a constant
altitude and speed, maintaining lateral level and
direction.
40(No Transcript)
41 Forces Acting on Aircraft -
42 43- Weight - Weight of the aircraft acting
vertically downwards through C.G - Lift - Lift acting vertically upwards through
C.P - Thrust - Thrust acting horizontally forward
along the propeller shaft. - Drag - Drag acting horizontally backwards along
the line of total drag of the aircraft.
44Forces acting on straight and level flight -
- Weight - Weight of the aircraft acting
vertically downwards through C.G - Lift - Lift acting vertically upwards through
C.P - Thrust - Thrust acting horizontally forward
along the propeller shaft. - Drag - Drag acting horizontally backwards along
the line of total drag of the aircraft.
45Equilibrium -
- In a straight and level flight, the following
conditions must be satisfied for equilibrium. - (a) Algebraic sum of forces acting
horizontally 0 - (b) Algebraic sum of forces acting
vertically 0 - It follows that L W and T D.
46- At any instant, the weight of an aircraft is a
certain quantity and the aircraft is flown at
such an angle of attack and air speed that it
produces lift equal to weight. Under these
conditions, the aircraft has certain amount of
drag which is counteracted by the pilot adjusting
his engine controls so that T D - The position of CG is always kept ahead of the CP
so that if the engine cuts, the aircraft assumes
a gliding attitude without difficulty.
47 GLIDE
48- Glide - Glide is that condition of flight in
which the aircraft is losing height without power
at a constant speed maintaining lateral level and
direction. - Gliding Angle - Gliding angle is the angle
between earths horizon and the path of the
aircraft.
49Forces Acting On Glide -
- The forces acting on an aircraft in a glide are
- Weight
- Lift
- Drag
50- Weight - Weight acting vertically down wards.
- Lift - Lift acting at right angles to the glide
path. - Drag - Drag acting backwards along the glide
path.
51Gliding Speed -
- It has been shown that the angle of glide is the
least when L/D is maximum. Thus if we fly at a
speed corresponding to the optimum angle of
attack, we will get the flattest glide. This
speed is the best gliding speed given in the
pilots notes for the aircraft. Gliding at any
speed higher or lower than this speed will mean a
reduction in L/D ratio and hence the glide path
will be steeper.
52 LIFT
53 Lift -
- The lift (L) is the force which acts on the main
plane vertically upwards through the centre of
pressure. - It helps in taking off the aircraft from the
ground and then to maintain the aircraft in level
flight. - The shape of an aerofoil is such that it is
convex on top side and more or less plain on the
bottom side.
54- When the aircraft moves on the forward direction,
the air coming from front side of aircraft passes
over the aircraft. - Due to the curve nature of the aerofoil, the
velocity of incoming air is much more on top side
as compared to the bottom side. As a result of
this the pressure on the top side decreases as
compared to the bottom side. Consequently the
aerofoil is being lifted due to the high pressure
on the bottom side.
55 Factors Governing Lift -
- The different factors governing the lift of an
aerofoil are as follows - (a) Angle of
attack (b) The air speed (c) Area of
aerofoil (d) Density of air
56- Angle of attack - It is defined as the angle
between the chord line and the relative air flow.
If it is properly adjusted that is at angle
between 3 and 4, the lift will be maximum. - Air Speed - It is the speed of airflow over the
aerofoil. When the air speed is more over the
aerofoil, the pressure decreases considerably and
the lift is more convenient.
57- Area of the Aerofoil - It is the total area of
an aerofoil over which the air passes. By
increasing the surface area to the airflow the
lift can be increased. - Density of Air - As the pressure is directly
proportional to the density, a difference in
pressure gives rise to the difference in density
of air on both the side of an aerofoil. If the
difference is more then the lift also will be
more.
58DRAG
59 Drag -
- The drag (D) is the force which acts horizontally
backwards. - It is the resistive force of the incoming airflow
from the front side of an aircraft which retard
the forward motion of the aircraft. - It is an unwanted force which tries to reduce the
thrust of an aircraft. - The greater the drag, the greater is the power
needed to over come it. - For an economical flight every effort must be
taken to reduce the drag.
60 Factors Affecting Drag -
- The different factors affecting drag are as
follows - (a) The shape of the body (b)
The surface (c) Frontal area of the body
exposed (d) Square of the velocity of the
airflow (e) The density of the air (f) The
acceleration due to gravity
61- The shape of the body - The shape of the
aircraft is made in such a way that minimum
portion of the body is exposed to the airflow. It
helps in reducing the drag. - The Surface - The less is the surface exposed to
the airflow, the less will be the drag.
62- Frontal area of the body exposed - The frontal
area of the body is made in such a way that it is
a streamlined one which will reduce the drag. - Velocity of airflow - The force due to drag is
directly proportional to the square of the
velocity of the airflow. In order to minimise the
drag, the aircraft is flown when the velocity of
the airflow is less.
63- Density of Air - The aircraft is made to fly in
the air, when its density is relatively low due
to the changing weather condition in order to
reduce the drag. - Acceleration due to Gravity - When the aircraft
is made to fly in a less height that is under the
influence of acceleration due to gravity, then
the drag is minimum.
64CLIMB
65 Climb -
- Introduction - A climb is that condition of
flight in which an aircraft gains altitude at a
steady rate and a constant airspeed maintaining
lateral level and direction
66 Forces Acting in a Climb -
- The forces acting on an aircraft during a climb
are as follows - (a) Weight
(W) (b) Lift (L) (c) Drag
(D) (e) Thrust (T)
67- Weight - Weight acting vertically downwards.
- Lift - Lift acting at right angles to the path
of climb. - Drag - Drag acting backwards along the path of
climb. - Thrust - Thrust acting forward along the path of
climb.
68 Ceiling -
- Service aircrafts are required to give their best
efficiency at certain pre - determined operating
altitudes and the engine, propeller and aircraft
are designed accordingly. The rate of climb is an
important factor in its consideration. - Beyond its best operating altitude, an aircraft
can climb upto its service ceiling where its rate
of climb drops off to a predetermined rate
(normally 100'/min).
69- The absolute ceiling of an aircraft is that
altitude beyond which the aircraft will not
climb. At this altitude, there is only one
possible level speed and the power required to
fly straight and level is equal to the power
available from the engine.
70 Effect of Wind -
- When an aircraft is climbing, the wind effects
its path of climb in relation to the ground. When
climbing in to wind, the ground speed being less
greater height is gained for the same amount of
ground covered than if the climb were made down
wind. Hence a better obstacle clearance when near
the ground.
71STALL AND SPIN
72 How an aircraft stalls -
- From the airflow pattern observed over an
aerofoil at varying angles of attack, it is
observed that beyond 15 (approx) angle of
attack, the airflow over the top surface breaks
up and the turbulent airflow spreads over to the
leading edge from the trailing edge. - The CP moves, suddenly back at this stage, and
the aircraft nose drops, in spite of all efforts
to keep it up. This phenomenon, where the
aircraft is out of control along with a sudden
loss of height by an increase in angle of attack
is called a STALL.
73 Stalling Angle -
- The angle of attack at which the lift of an
aerofoil is maximum and beyond which there is a
sudden loss in lift and rapid increase in drag
due to airflow over the aerofoil becoming
turbulent instead of remaining streamlined, is
called the Stalling Angle.
74 Symptoms of Stall -
- The following symptoms indicate the approach of
stall - (a) High attitude (b)
Decreasing speed (c) Sluggish controls (d)
Sink (e) Nose drop (f) Wing drop
75- High attitude - As the pilot keeps on increasing
the angle of attack in trying to maintain height. - Decreasing Speed - Due to increase in drag as a
result of increase in angle of attack. - Sluggish controls - All controls start becoming
less effective as the speed is decreased.
76- Sink - Just after the point of stall, the lift
obtained from the wing decreases and sink may be
felt. - Nose drop - Inspite of the pilot trying to ease
back on the stick, the nose drops, because the CP
moves sharply back, thus causing the nose to go
down. - Wing drop - In some aircrafts it occurs because
one wing stalls just before the other one. This
can also be due to slight yaw at the point of
stall.
77 Recovery from stall -
- (a) The obvious method is to decrease the angle
of attack by easing the stick forward. - (b) Use of power will effect a much quicker
recovery with a much lesser loss of height.
78 Types of stall -
- Stalls can be generalized under the following
three main headings - (a) Basic
Stall (b) Shock Stall (c)
High speed Stall
79- Basic Stall - It can be further sub-divided as
follows (i) Stall Clean
aircraft (ii) Stall With flaps and under
carriage down (iii) Stall with power on. - Shock Stall - This occurs at very high Mach
numbers due to compressibility effects. Here the
angle of attack can be any figure. - Recovery action lies in lowering the Mach No.
80- High Speed Stall - The aircraft can, in fact,
stall in any attitude relative to the horizon as
it is the relative flow that is significant and
which gives the angle of attack. The aircraft
thus can be made to stall in a climb, in glide,
in turn, in fact any time when the wings are
presented at the stalling angle to the airflow.
Further, harsh movement of stick can also result
in a stall at any speed. - To recover, the backward pressure on the stick
must be relaxed.
81 SPINNING -
- Introduction - Spinning is that stalled
condition of flight in which the aircraft rapidly
loses height in a spiral path while auto-rotating
and auto-pitching.
82 Conditions for a Spin -
- Mishandling of controls at the point of stall
causes a spin. - A yaw at the point of stall initiates a spin.
- A yaw will cause a wing drop and auto rotation
begins. - An aircraft can get into a spin from any attitude
of flight. e.g. gliding turn, steep turn,
aerobatics...
83- An aircraft however, does not go directly from a
stall into a spin. It is a transition period, the
duration of which varies considerably with
different conditions of stall in some type of
aircraft, and also with different conditions of
stall in some type of aircraft. - When a wing drops at the point of stall, the
aircraft nose begins to yaw towards the dropped
wing, and as the angle of bank increases, it will
drop sharply below the horizon and the aircraft
begins a spiral decent. - The condition immediately precedes the spin and
is referred to as an INCIPIENT SPIN.
84 Auto Pitching -
- In a spin, the aircraft is auto-pitching. As the
aircraft stalls, the centre of pressure moves
rapidly back causing the nose of the aircraft to
drop. Then the CP tends to move forward causing
the nose to move up and this keeps repeating as
long as the aircraft is spinning. This is called
AUTO-PITCHING.
85- The following points about spinning are worth
noting - - Use of power during recovery will only increase
the loss of height and if the spin was initiated
with power, the throttle should be closed. - Use of aileron is undesirable during a spin,
because if used in the natural sense, they
increase the drag on the inner wing and tend to
keep the aircraft in the spin.
86 87 Introduction -
- The problem of augmenting (increasing) the
maximum lift co-efficient to the speed of the
lower speed range aircrafts has always been as
much attention as the search for the high speeds.
The use of high speed aerofoil sections helps the
designer to achieve higher speed by reducing the
drag. As most aircrafts using these aerofoils
also have high wing loading, the stalling speed
are proportionately higher. This requires longer
landing run.
88 Lift augmentation devices -
- The following are the chief devices used to
augment the lift co-efficient (a)
Slats (b) Flaps (c) Boundary layer
control
89 Slats -
- Slats are the small auxiliary aerofoil surfaces
of highly cambered section is fixed to the
leading edge of the wing along the complete span
and adjusted so that a suitable slot is formed
between the two. The lift coefficient is
increased by so much as 70 and more. At the same
time the stalling angle is increased by 10.
90 Types of slats -
- There are mainly three types of
slats (a) Fixed Slats (b)
Controlled Slats (c) Automatic Slats
91- Fixed Slats - In this case the slats are kept
permanently opened with a slot and it was found
that the extra drag at a high speed would be a
greater disadvantage than the advantage gained by
the extra lift at low speeds. - Controlled Slats - In this the slats would be
moved to open the slot and close the slot by
control mechanism attached to a lever in the
cockpit which gains the advantage at high and low
speeds.
92- Automatic Slats - In this case when the slat is
not in use it lies flush against the edge of the
wings. At high angles of attack the low pressure
peak near the leading edge of the upper surface
of the wing and the lift generated by the
cambered slot itself lift the slat upward and
forwards to the open position, thus forming the
required slot.
93 Flaps -
- Introduction - The plain or cambered flap works
on the same principle as on aileron or other
control surface, it is truly a variable camber. - Flaps, like slats can also increase the drag.
- Lowering of flaps produce an increase in the
lift co-efficient at given speed but at the same
time the greater camber also causes an increase
in the total drag. - The best lift drag ratio is obtained with the
flap at some angle between 15 and 35.
94 Types of Flaps -
- There are various types of flaps in use and they
are mainly - (a) Plain or Camber
Flaps (b) Split Flaps (c) Slotted
Flaps (d) Fowler Flaps (e) Jet
Flaps (f) Zap Flaps (g) Variable
camber Flaps
95 96 Stability -
- Introduction - Stability of aircraft means its
ability to return some particular condition of
flight (after having been slightly disturbed from
that condition) without any effort on the part of
the pilot. - The stability of an aircraft can be defined as
its tendency to return to the original trimmed
position after having been displaced. - The term is applicable in all the three axes of
rotation. i.e. longitudinal, lateral, and normal.
97 The three Axes of Aircraft -
- An aircraft can rotate about three axes at right
angles to each other. The three axes
are (a) Longitudinal Axis (b)
Lateral Axis (c) Normal Axis
98FLYING CONTROLS
99 Longitudinal Axis -
- The axis running fore and aft through Centre of
gravity is known as the longitudinal axis of the
aircraft. (or) It is the axis
passes through Centre of Gravity of the aircraft
and runs from nose to tail of the aircraft is
called longitudinal axis of the aircraft. - This is the axis about which aircraft rolls.
- The stability about this axis is known as lateral
stability.
100 Lateral Axis -
- The lateral axis is a line running span wise
through the CG at the right angles to the other
Longitudinal and Normal axis. - Movement about this axis is Pitching.
- Stability about this axis is called longitudinal
stability.
101 Normal Axis -
- The normal or directional axis is a line running
vertically through Centre of Gravity and at right
angles to both lateral and longitudinal axis. - Stability about this axis is known as directional
stability. - It is the axis about which aircraft yaws.
102- The stability of an aircraft so far as it
concerns pitching about the lateral axis is
called longitudinal stability. - The stability which concerns rolling about the
longitudinal axis is called lateral stability. - The stability which concerns the yawing about the
normal axis is called the directional stability.
103Factors governing Longitudinal Stability -
- The three main facts which influence longitudinal
stability are - (a) Position of
Centre of Gravity (b) Movement of Centre of
pressure (c) Design of the Tailplane Elevators.
104 Position of Centre of Gravity -
- An aircraft is most stable at its forward limit
of CG. If this forward. If this forward position
is exceeded, the stick forces become very high
and often create undue fatigue to the pilot. As
the CG position is increased back, the stability
decreases with lesser tendency of the aircraft to
returns to its original trimmed position after
having been disturbed.
105 Movement of CP -
- The position of Centre of pressure depends upon
the angle of attack. - The CP moves forward with increase in angle of
attack and backward when the angle of attack
decreases. - It also follows that since the aircraft rotates
around its CG, if the CP moves ahead of the CG, a
nose up movement will result. Similarly, a nose
down change of trim will occur if the CP moves
back of the CG.
106Design of Tailplane and Elevator -
- The function of the tailplane is to provide a
countering force to any residual out of balance
force existing among the four main forces. If the
angle of attack is increased due to any reason
the wing lift is also increased and the CP tends
to move forward. As a result the state of
equilibrium no longer exists. It also follows
that the tailplane has been subjected to same
increase in the angle of attack. In order to
restore the aircraft to its original trimmed
position, the role of the tail plane comes to
play, which is so designed that the increase in
tailplane lift is greater than the unbalancing
moment caused by the above mentioned disturbance
107 Lateral Stability -
- If the aircraft regains the lateral level, after
initial disturbance, it is said to be laterally
stable. - Lateral stability is obtained by one or a
combination of the following methods.
108Factors Governing Lateral Stability-
- (a) Dihedral Angle
- (b) Sweepback of the wings
- Placing most keel surface above the CG
- Using a high wing and low CG position.
109 Dihedral Angle -
- When a wing is inclined upwards from its lateral
axis, the angle from the horizontal is known as
dihedral angle. (Similarly the inclination below
is called anhedral angle). - It also follows that an a/c with a dihedral
angle will have a higher angle of attack.
110- When an a/c with a dihedral angle is banked, the
tilted lift vector, initiates a side slipping
action. Due to dihedral angle, the airflow meets
the lower wing at a larger angle of attack than
the higher wing, as a result the quantom of lift
increases on the lower wing thus setting up a
balancing movement to correct the bank.
111Sweepback Of Wings -
- A slide slip occurs when an a/c is banked, In
case of an a/c with swept back wings, the lower
wing offers a shorter effective chord with a
greater effective camber than the raised wing.
This results in a greater amount of lift on the
lower wing which in turn restores lateral level.
112High Keel Surface -
- During a slide slip, a considerable amount of
force is exerted on the keel surface (side
surface) of the a/c, which results in a turning
movement about the CG. If the keel surface above
the CG, produce greater movement than below it,
the same will result in a correcting movement
which will assist in restoring lateral level. - This can be achieved by placing more keel surface
above the CG
113High Wing and Low CG-
- If the a/c with high wing side slips, a pendulous
effect is created. During the side-slip, the drag
of the wing above CG allows it to swing down till
the time it is placed vertically below the lift
thus restoring lateral level.
114Directional Stability -
- The effect of directional and lateral stability
are very closely interlinked. - A disturbance which involves only lateral
stability, initially, will always involve
directional stability during subsequent
interactions. - The purpose of the fin is to provide directional
stability. With out a fin, an a/c will be
directionally unstable because the CP of the tear
shaped body is ahead of CG
115Factors governing Directional Stability-
- (a) Fin area
- (b) More keel surface behind the CG
- Fin Area - When an a/c is disturbed on yawing
plane the airflow for a movement continues to
attach in the original direction. The fin having
been located far behind the CG when affected by
this airflow because of a long leverage provides
a correcting movement tending to bring the a/c
back into original path.
116- More Keel Surface behind the CG- In the lateral
stability the keel surface above the CG level is
considered, but in the directional stability the
amount of keel surface behind the CG is
important. Greater the surface behind the CG
greater is the righting movement applied when
affected directionally.