Spreadsheet for estimating stability and control of CONVENTIONAL aircraft

Written by Neal Willford 8/6/2005 for Sport Aviation

Based on methods and information presented in:
"Technical Aerodynamics" by K.D. Wood
"Engineering Aerodynamics, Revised Edition" by W.S. Diehl, Control Surface design article by Morgan
"Airplane Performance, Stability and Control" by Perkins and Hage and NACA Report WR A-11
***This spreadsheet WILL NOT work for analyzing canard configurations (where the forward wing is smaller and has a shorter
***This spreadsheet is for educational purposes only and may contain errors. Any attempt to use the results for actua

Input required in the yellow cells

wing area: 125.7 sq ft CL max:
wing span: 29 ft Cm flaps:
Cmo: -0.045 airfoil pitching moment at zero lift fus. length:
MAC: 52 inches (mean aerodynamic chord) fus. width:
a: 24.3 % mac (location of wing aerodaynamic center) cr/4 loc:
airfoil alpha 0: -2.1 degrees (flaps up airfoil zero lift angle) travel:
flap angle: 40 degrees (full flap deflection) # of blades:
est. flap delta a0 -10.5 degrees (APPROX. change in zero lift angle for a flap) prop dia:
flaps delta a0: -10.5 degrees (flaps down change airfoil zero lift angle) lp:
bfi/b: 0.08 start of flap/halfspan (0 if no flap used) # of props:
bfo/b: 0.6 end of flap/halfspan (0 if no flap used) Tp:
incidence: 1.5 degrees, wing incidence relative to fuselage Y:
weight: 1167 lbs speed:
Hz CG: 32.3 % MAC (horizontal CG position) altitude:
Vt CG: -48.2 % MAC (vertical CG postion, negative below wing)

Horizontal tail information

Ht area: 21.00 sq ft (if V-tail, actual not projected area) elevator: -25
Ht span: 9.00 ft Lambda: 0.0
tail arm: 130 in (distance between wing and tail MAC/4) Se/Sh: 0.45
tail efficiency: 0.90 about .80 for wide fuselages, .90 tandem, .95 H
T t inc: -2.3
hz taper: 0.50 horizontal tip chord/root chord ratio Lh/c = 2.43

Estimated elevator effectiveness parameter Estimated unbalanced 3-d sealed elev

Horizontal max thickness: 9 % chord Ch alpha= -0.0066
Estimated trailing edge angle = 11.7 degrees 3-d elevator hinge moments (see NAC
Actual trailing edge angle: 11.7 degrees Ch alpha: -0.0066
Elevator effectiveness parameter = 0.72 for sealed hinge line
Elevator effectiveness parameter = 0.61 for hinge line with gaps
Actual elevator effectiveness parameter
Elevator effectiveness parameter: 0.61

Forward CG limit (flaps down in ground effect, windmilling prop):

fwd CG = 19.2 %mac, max fwd CG in ground effect

Stability with no aerodynamic elevator horn cruise Cl = 0.32

Static margin = 7.5 % MAC, stick fixed N.P. = 39.8 % mac, stick fixed
Static margin = 1.7 % MAC, stick free N.P. = 34.0 % mac stick free

Horn balance effect on stick free neutral point:

 Unshielded Horn
horn span: 6.75 inches horn chord=
tip t/c: 0.06 tip thickness/chord ratio elev chord=
** do not pick a horn span that allows ch delta to become positive ** elev b/2=
Ch alpha= -0.0016 Ch delta = -0.0076
Static margin = 5.3 % MAC N.P. =

Shielded Horn
horn span: 0.00 inches elev span:
horn chord: 10.00 inches (horn chord ahead of hinge) elev ch:
horn L.E shape: 1 0 for ellipse shape, 1 for round horn c':
tip t/c: 0.06 tip thickness/chord ratio
Ch alpha = -0.0066 Ch delta = -0.0119
Static margin = 1.7 % MAC N.P. =

Stick force per 'g' estimates Minimum recommended stick force per 'g' (from
nlimit: 4.0 positive design 'g' limit load factor min fs/g = 6.7 (lbs/g) for yoke control
Gross weight: 1167 min fs/g = 5.0 (lbs/g) for stick control

Elevator underbalance: 0.00 in-lbs

Under balance dF/g contribution= 0.00 lbs/g
climb CL: 0.85 climb lift coefficient

no balance shielded unshielded stick free

Cl Fstick/'g' Fstick/'g' Fstick/'g' dCm/dCl
Cruise condition 0.32 5.1 5.1 6.3 -0.017
Power on climb 0.85 13.0 13.0 11.3 -0.093
Idle power descent 0.85 13.4 13.4 11.6 -0.097

Vertical Tail Sizing:

Fuselage factor: 0.0 side view factor (.7 for streamline fuselage, .8 for full fuselage, 0 if area kno
fuselage height: 3.60 ft
Fuselage area: 48.0 sq. ft. (fuselage side profile area, 0 if unknown)
Vertical a/r: 1.50 vertical tail a/r (from horizontal tail to tip)
Ht to Vt: 0.00 in (distance between Ht c/4 and Vt c/4, positive aft)
High wing: 1 1, yes 0, no
Vertical tail efficiency: 1.00 about .90 to 1.00 depending on how tall the vertical tail is
Min. vertical area = 12.11 sq. ft.
Min. vertical height = 51.2 inches, from horizontal to tip of vertical

Directional Stability (Perkins & Hage method)

c/4 sweep: 0.00 degrees (wing) fus. height: 3.60
d: 0.00 ft ( dist from top of fus to wing ) h1: 3.40
Vertical area: 12.00 sq. ft. h2: 1.83
Vertical span: 52.00 inches (from horizontal to vertical tip) w1: 2.25
Cn wloc: -0.0002 -.0002 high wing, -.0001 mid wing, 0 low wingw2: 1.50
K factor for calculating lift slope curve of V-tail in yaw
K= 0.70 for constant chord K= 0.68 for taper ratio of 0.5
K: 0.00 interpolate as required using above values for desired taper ratio ( V-tail only)
Cnpsi = -0.0006 minimum suggested Cnpsi = -0.0006
Sr/Sv: 0.40 rudder area to vertical area ratio
Cndelta rudder 0.0010 increase rudder/vertical tail area ratio until this is at least .0010
is smaller and has a shorter chord than the rear wing)
to use the results for actual design purposes are done at the user's own risk ***

Background calculations
1.8 flaps down (enter flaps up Clmax if an unflapped wing) wing aspect ratio=
-0.2 (additional cm of flaps, zero if no flaps used) Lt =
16.75 ft (not including spinner or rudder if thin) depsilon/dalpha =
2.25 ft (max width)
37 %, MAC/4 location on fuselage as a % of fuselage length fuselage dCm/dCl=
4.0 inches (travel of stick/yoke from neutral to up elevator)
2
58 in
77 in (distance propeller ahead of wing MAC 1/4 chord) idle power destabilizing =
1 dCmprop/dCl=
1.0 inches normal to T.L. (positive when thrust line below cg) full power destabilizing =
21.0 inches (vertical distance between wing and Hz tail MAC tail eta =
104 Knots rho = 0.001868
8000 ft
horizontal tail dcl/dalp =
eps grd = 4.41
alpha w= 14.08
degrees, max up elevator deflection (max recommended -25 deg) wing Cm= -0.17
degrees (dihedral angle if a V-tail) alpha fus= 12.6
ratio of elevator area to horizontal tail area delta alfl= 6.7
degrees, tail incidence (positive leading edge up)
Vt = 0.41 Horizontal A/R = 3.86 horizontal tail
croot = 37.33
unbalanced 3-d sealed elevator hinge moments ctip = 18.67
Ch delta= -0.0119 mac = 29.04
r hinge moments (see NACA Report WR A-11 or use above estimates) unshielded horn
Ch delta: -0.0119 Ah = 0.64
(horn area*ave horn chord)/(elevator area*ave

G=
pwr off Cmdelta=
Cmdelta=
2-d sealed hinge moments
ch alpha= -0.01104
 10.6 inches (mean horn chord)
13.1 inches (mean elevator chord)
54.0 inches (elevator semi span)

37.6 % MAC

54.0 inches (elevator semi span) Ah = 0.00

13.1 inches (mean elevator chord) B= 0.00
18.7 inches (chord of hor. at horn) cf/c' = 0.54
delta chalpha = 0.00000
delta chdelta = 0.0000
34.0 % MAC

ed stick force per 'g' (from CFR Part 23.155)

(lbs/g) for yoke control
(lbs/g) for stick control

balance balance
dCm/dCl dCm/dCl
-0.017 -0.053
-0.093 -0.130
-0.097 -0.133

for full fuselage, 0 if area known) yaw axis x/L = 0.39

Lv = 126.20 in (distance between CG and vertical c/4)
Sb= 48.00 sq. ft., approximate fuselage projected area
Hor CG = 32.30 % mac

fus L/height = 4.65 Kv = 0.003 Av =

ft, maximum value

ft. ( fuselage height @ 1/4 Length) Av = 1.56 Vertical fin aspect ratio
ft. ( fuselage height @ 3/4 Length) Cnsweep= 0.0000 d= 6.7330 ft, distance from nose to c.g. (prop
ft. ( fuselage width @ 1/4 Length) Kb = 0.1814 Cnfus= 0.0008 dcl/dpsi=
ft. ( fuselage width @ 3/4 Length) dCyprop = 0.0017 Cnpsi = 0.0001 full power
rudder tau 0.58

er ratio ( V-tail only)

nd calculations
6.69 dcl/dalp = 0.08 cl/deg=
126.20 in (cg to ht/4) Lh/c = 2.43
0.39

0.029 Kf= 0.01 cr/4= 0.37

r destabilizing = 0.030
0.004
destabilizing = 0.033 (idle + power effects)
0.90

tail dcl/dalp = 0.060 cl/deg

degrees, downwash in ground effect
degrees to chord line
fus Cm= 0.03 idle Cm = 0.03
degrees to fuselage axis
degrees, delta for zero alpha due to flaps

inches m= 0.19
inches 2-d sealed hinge moments
inches ch alpha= -0.0110 ch delta= -0.0151

a*ave horn chord)/(elevator area*ave elevator chord)= 0.08

1.31 mechanical advantage of control system

-0.013 unshielded shielded
-0.013 K = -12.57 K = -12.57
d hinge moments
chdelta= -0.01503
 CG and vertical c/4)
uselage projected area

0.0480

ft, distance from nose to c.g. (prop location)

0.0492
Cnpsi = -0.0017 del2Cnps= 0.0005
Spreadsheet for estimating aileron performance
Written by Neal Willford 8/6/2005 for Sport Aviation
Based on methods and information presented in:
"Airplane Performance, Stability and Control" by Perkins and Hage, NACA Report WR A-11 and Aerodyamic Balance on Cont
***This spreadsheet is for educational purposes only and may contain errors. Any attempt to use the results for actua

Input required in the yellow cells

Aileron Control Authority:

Wing Area: 125.7 sq. ft.
Wing Span: 29.0 feet
Taper Ratio: 1.0 wing taper ratio (tip chord/root chord)
Ca/Cwing: 0.20 aileron chord (aft of hinge line)/wing chord ratio
start of aileron: 0.60 start of aileron/half span
end of aileron: 0.96 end of aileron/half span
aileron defl: 40 degrees (max up + max down travel)

Estimated aileron effectiveness term

Wing thickness at aileron: 12 % chord Frise or slotted aileron =
Estimated trailing edge angle = 15.6 degrees Internally sealed aileron =
Actual trailing edge angle: 15.6 degrees aileron with round aero balance=
Aileron effectiveness term:
for maximum aileron deflection
pb/2V = 0.095 minimum recommended is 0.07

Estimated aileron stick force and roll rate

Airspeed: 70 Knots
Density altitude: 0 feet
Weight: 1167 lbs
Stick deflection (from neutral): 5.0 inches
Up aileron deflection: 25 degrees
Down aileron deflection: 15 degrees

APPROXIMATE 3-d aileron hinge moments

Unbalanced and sealed Round leading edge aero balance
hinge line with 0.45% chord gap
CH alpha= -0.0025 Cb/Ca: 0.33 aileron chord ahead of hinge line/aileron chord aft of hi
CH delta= -0.0109 CH alpha= 0.0000 Aileron balance =
CH delta= -0.0017 Total aileron chord/wing chord =

3-d aileron hinge moments (see NACA Report WR A-11 or use above estimates)
CH alpha: -0.0025
CH delta: -0.0109

Pb/2V for the given deflection = 0.095

Roll rate for stick deflection = 44 deg/sec
Aileron Stick force = 23.7 lbs
and Aerodyamic Balance on Control Surfaces by L.E. Root
empt to use the results for actual design purposes are done at the user's own risk ***

Aspect Ratio =
Croot = 52.01
Ctip = 52.01
Ca/Cw = 0.20
aileron span =
aileron area =

for A/R = 6.7

fectiveness term span loc =
0.36 C.C. Cldel/tau=
0.46 Tapered Cldel/tau=
0.53
0.46 A/R =6 C.C.
A/R =6 Tapered
A/R =10 C.C.
A/R =10 Tapered

Std Day Temp=

Rho=
Sqrt Sigma=
q= 16.61
W.L. = 9.3
Chd = -0.171
delta aileron =
2-d sealed hinge moments
ch alpha= -0.003188
Sa = 4.53
of hinge line/aileron chord aft of hinge line Ca = 0.87
24.8% total aileron chord K= 0.76
wing chord = 26.6% total wing chord G= 0.84
theoretical ch alpha =
theoretical ch delta =
Fs = 22.7
Cb = 0.066
 6.7 m = 0.00 dCL/dalpha = 0.0788 per deg
inches Ca = 10.40 inches (inbd aileron chord)
inches Ca = 10.40 inches (outbd aileron chord)
aileron chord/wing chord ratio for chord aft of H/L
5.22 ft. per aileron
4.53 sq. ft. per aileron (area aft of H/L)
K= 0.76
delta Cld/Tau = 0.40 estimated Clp = 0.51
0.60 0.96 delta Cldel/tau
0.376 0.776 0.400
0.375 0.739 0.364

Cldel/tau= 0.366 0.748 m CC = 0.0145 0.0401

Cldel/tau= 0.366 0.716 m taper = 0.0135 0.0331
Cldel/tau= 0.424 0.909 b CC = 0.2790 0.5074
Cldel/tau= 0.420 0.849 b taper = 0.2854 0.5178

59.0 deg F Temperature= 59.0 deg F airspeed= 118 ft/s

0.002377 Sigma Std= 1.000 Theta std = 1.000
1.000 Cor Sigma= 1.000
psf CL = 0.56 alpha = 7.09 degrees from zero lift
psf delta alph 4.25 degrees due to roll rate
Chu = 0.245
40 degrees (total aileron defl)
d hinge moments
chdelta= -0.011231
sq. ft. per aileron (area aft of H/L) Up aileron gear ratio = 1.05 rad/ft
ft (aft of H/L) Dwn aileron gear ratio 0.63 rad/ft

n= 0.106
-0.080 nalpha = 0.35 theta f = 2.21 Ttheory= 0.55
-0.011 ndelta = 0.30 nlambda= 0.98
lbs for equal up and down aileron throw
based on total wing chord
Spreadsheet for estimating stability and control of CONVENTIONAL aircraft with a constant chord STABILATOR horizontal tail
Written by Neal Willford 8/6/2005 for Sport Aviation
Based on methods and information presented in:
"Technical Aerodynamics" by K.D. Wood
"Engineering Aerodynamics, Revised Edition" by W.S. Diehl, Control Surface design article by Morgan
"Airplane Performance, Stability and Control" by Perkins and Hage
***This spreadsheet WILL NOT work for analyzing canard configurations (where the forward wing is smaller and has a shorter
***This spreadsheet is for educational purposes only and may contain errors. Any attempt to use the results for actua

Input required in the yellow cells

wing area: 125.7 sq ft CL max:
wing span: 29 ft Cm flaps:
Cmo: -0.045 airfoil pitching moment at zero lift fus. length:
MAC: 52 inches (mean aerodynamic chord) fus. width:
a: 24.3 % mac (location of wing aerodaynamic center) cr/4 loc:
airfoil alpha 0: -2.1 degrees (flaps up airfoil zero lift angle) travel:
flap angle: 40 degrees (full flap deflection) # of blades:
est. flap delta a0 -10.5 degrees (APPROX. change in zero lift angle for a flap) prop dia:
flaps delta a0: -10.5 degrees (flaps down change airfoil zero lift angle) lp:
bfi/b: 0.08 start of flap/halfspan (0 if no flap used) # of props:
bfo/b: 0.6 end of flap/halfspan (0 if no flap used) Tp:
incidence: 1.5 degrees, wing incidence relative to fuselage Y:
weight: 1167 lbs speed:
Hz CG: 32.3 % MAC (horizontal CG position) altitude:
Vt CG: -48.2 % MAC (vertical CG postion, negative below wing)

Stabilator tail information

Ht area: 17.00 sq ft bt/b: 0.900
Ht span: 8.00 ft ct/c: 0.200
tail arm: 130 in (distance between wing and tail MAC/4) Stab defl: -15.00
tail efficiency: 0.90 about .80 for wide fuselages, .90 tandem, .95 Tab delta: -20.00
Lh/c = 2.43 Vt = 0.33 (tail volume coefficient) Horizontal A/R =

Forward CG limit (flaps down in ground effect, windmilling prop):

fwd CG = 15.9 %mac, max fwd CG in ground effect

Stabilator Stability (stick fixed and stick free are the same for stabilators hinged at the 1/4 chord)

Static margin = 4.1 % MAC, stick free N.P. = 36.4 % mac stick free
Stab incidence for zero tab deflection = 1.9 deg (+ Leading edge up) for given airspeed, altitude and CG)

Stick force per 'g' estimates Minimum recommended stick force per 'g' (from
nlimit: 4.0 positive design 'g' limit load factor min fs/g = 6.7 (lbs/g) for yoke control
Gross weight: 1167 min fs/g = 5.0 (lbs/g) for stick control
climb CL: 0.85 climb lift coefficient

Cl Fstick/'g' dCm/dCl
Cruise condition 0.32 5.9 -0.041
Power on climb 0.85 11.7 -0.118
Idle power descent 0.85 11.9 -0.121
Vertical Tail Sizing:
Fuselage factor: 0.0 side view factor (.7 for streamline fuselage, .8 for full fuselage, 0 if area kno
fuselage height: 3.60 ft
Fuselage area: 48.0 sq. ft. (fuselage side profile area, 0 if unknown)
Vertical a/r: 1.50 vertical tail a/r (from horizontal tail to tip)
Ht to Vt: 0.00 in (distance between Ht c/4 and Vt c/4, positive aft)
High wing: 1 1, yes 0, no
Vertical tail efficiency: 1.00 about .90 to 1.00 depending on how tall the vertical tail is
Min. vertical area = 12.11 sq. ft.
Min. vertical height = 51.15 inches, from horizontal to tip of vertical

Directional Stability (Perkins & Hage method)

c/4 sweep: 0.00 degrees (wing) fus. height: 3.60
d: 0.00 ft ( dist from top of fus to wing ) h1: 3.40
Vertical area: 12.00 sq. ft. h2: 1.83
Vertical span: 52.00 inches (from horizontal to vertical tip) w1: 2.25
Cn wloc: -0.0002 -.0002 high wing, -.0001 mid wing, 0 low wingw2: 1.50
K factor for calculating lift slope curve of V-tail in yaw
K= 0.70 for constant chord K= 0.68 for taper ratio of 0.5
K: 0.00 interpolate as required using above values for desired taper ratio ( V-tail only)
Cnpsi = -0.0006 minimum suggested Cnpsi = -0.0006
Sr/Sv: 0.40 rudder area to vertical area ratio
Cndelta rudder 0.0010 increase rudder/vertical tail area ratio until this is at least .0010
d STABILATOR horizontal tail hinged at 25% chord

is smaller and has a shorter chord than the rear wing)

to use the results for actual design purposes are done at the user's own risk ***

Background calculations
1.8 flaps down (enter flaps up Clmax if an unflapped wing) wing aspect ratio=
-0.2 (additional cm of flaps, zero if no flaps used) Lt =
16.75 ft (not including spinner or rudder if thin) depsilon/dalpha =
2.25 ft (max width)
37 %, MAC/4 location on fuselage as a % of fuselage length fuselage dCm/dCl=
4.0 inches (travel of stick/yoke from neutral to up elevator)
2 idle power destabilizing =
58 in dCmprop/dCl=
77 in (distance propeller ahead of wing MAC 1/4 chord) full power destabilizing =
1 tail eta =
1.0 inches normal to T.L. (positive when thrust line below cg)
21.0 inches (vertical distance between wing and Hz tail MAC horizontal tail dcl/dalp =
104 Knots
8000 ft eps grd = 4.41
alpha w= 14.08
rho = 0.001868

ratio of anti-servo tab span to stabilator span wing Cm= -0.17

ratio of anti-servo tab chord to stabilator chord alpha fus= 12.6
degrees, maximum stabilator deflection (neg. LE down), max -15 deg delta alfl= 6.7
degrees, maximum anti-servo tab deflection (neg TE up), max -20 deg
Horizontal A/R = 3.76 hinge moment parameters for stabilator
ch delta= -0.0086
J= 9.38
dcm/ddelt= -0.009

at the 1/4 chord) G=

pwr off Cmdelta=
Cmdelta=
airspeed, altitude and CG)
cruise Cl = 0.32
ed stick force per 'g' (from CFR Part 23.155)
(lbs/g) for yoke control
(lbs/g) for stick control
for full fuselage, 0 if area known) yaw axis x/L = 0.39
Lv = 126.20 in (distance between CG and vertical c/4)
Sb= 48.00 sq. ft., approximate fuselage projected area
Hor CG = 32.30 % mac
dcl/dpsi= 0.037
delta Sv1= 6.52 sq. ft.

fus L/height = 4.65 Kv = 0.003 Av =

ft, maximum value

ft. ( fuselage height @ 1/4 Length) Av = 1.56 Vertical fin aspect ratio
ft. ( fuselage height @ 3/4 Length) Cnsweep= 0.0000 d= 6.7330 ft, distance from nose to c.g. (prop
ft. ( fuselage width @ 1/4 Length) Kb = 0.1814 Cnfus= 0.0008 dcl/dpsi=
ft. ( fuselage width @ 3/4 Length) dCyprop = 0.0017 Cnpsi = 0.0001 full power
rudder tau 0.58

er ratio ( V-tail only)

nd calculations
6.69 dcl/dalp = 0.08 cl/deg=
126.20 in (cg to ht/4) Lh/c = 2.43
0.39

0.03 Kf= 0.01 cr/4= 0.37

r destabilizing = 0.030
0.004
destabilizing = 0.033 (idle + power effects)
0.90

tail dcl/dalp = 0.059 cl/deg

degrees, downwash in ground effect

degrees to chord line

full pwr Cm 0.03

fus Cm= 0.03 idle Cm = 0.03
degrees to fuselage axis
degrees, delta for zero alpha due to flaps

ment parameters for stabilator

ch alpha= 0.0000 tau = 1.55
dalp/ddel= -0.44
E' = 0.70

0.79 mechanical advantage of control system

-0.027
-0.027

alpha fus= 0.49 epsilon= 1.58

 CG and vertical c/4)
uselage projected area

0.0480

ft, distance from nose to c.g. (prop location)

0.0492
Cnpsi = -0.0017 del2Cnps= 0.0005