FLIGHT MECHANICS

Text book
Flight Stability and Automatic Control

- Nelson

References
Aircraft Dynamics and Automatic Control - McRuler & Ashkenas Stability and Control of Airplanes and Helicopter - Seckel Aerodynamics, Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics - McCormick Automatic Flight Control Systems - Donald McLean

Flight Mechanics Course Content

A. Review of dynamics
The basic governing equation of motion (EOM) of an aircraft Decouple the 6 DOF of an A/C into a longitudinal directional motions and a lateral directional motions B.2.2 Estimation of longitudinal Aerodynamic derivatives B.2.3 Some preliminaries on longitudinal dynamic analysis B.2.4 Solutions of dynamic longitudinal motions

B. Longitudinal motion analysis

B.1 Static Longitudinal analysis
B.1.1 Static longitudinal stability B.1.2 Trim stabilizer and elevator angles for Level flight B.1.3 Stick free static stability

C. Lateral motion analysis

C.1 Linearization of the lateral EOM C.2 Static lateral analysis C.3 Lateral aerodynamic derivatives C.4 Dynamic lateral analysis

B.2 Dynamic Longitudinal analysis

B.2.1 Linearization of the longitudinal equations of motion

Appendix: Taylor series expansion of analytic function

 --
1. 2. 3.

(I) (II)// (I)

dP

P V V P

dt = P + P

4.

(II)

5. 6.

:
a. b. Aspect ratioDownwash angleAerodynamic center

+ b + ck Q = xi + y + zk R = P Q = f i + g + hk P = ai j j j j i k P Q = a b c f = bz cy , g = cx az , h = ay bx x y z

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a. b.

A. Review of Dynamics

Define a coordinate system --- Fixed in body: x, y , z : Axis fixed in body, right handed. u, v , w : Velocities along axis X , Y , Z : Forces along axis L, M , N : Moments along axis p, q, r : Angular velocities Basic governing equations: F = Fext + Fi = 0 Fext : External force Fi : Inertial force, = m dV dt V : Velocity, = ui + v + wk j M = M ext + M i = 0 M ext : External moment M i : Inertial moment, = dH dt H : Angular momentum

C .G .

C o o r d in a te s fix e d in b o d y

y q

x z v r u w
Z ,N z -a x is

p
X ,L x -a x is

Y ,M y -a x is

The coordinate system thus defined is rotating at a speed = pi + qj + rk , hence is a non-inertial frame. For any vector P defined therein, its time derivative with respect to the inertial frame will be: dP dt = P + P .
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The inertial force, Fi = m dV dt , is derived as follows: 1. The acceleration of the aircraft is given by dV = V + V , = pi + q + r k j dt 2. We can write j i k V = p q r = ( qw rv )i + ( ru pw ) + ( pv qu )k ; j u v w hence,

dV = (u + qw rv )i + ( v + ru pw ) + ( w + pv qu) k . j dt 3. As a result, the inertial force of the motion can be written as follows: dV Fi = m = Fi x i + Fi y + Fi z k . j dt Collectively, we have Fi x = m(u + qw rv), Fi y = m(v + ru pw), Fi z = m( w + pv qu ).
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The inertial moment, M i , is derived next. 1. The inertial moment of an aircraft can be obtained by differentiating its angular momentum with respect to time. 2. The angular momentum of an aircraft is found by integrating, over the body, the infinitesimal angular momentum of the mass element spread over the aircraft. For the mass element dm shown in the figure on next page, its angular momentum will be as follows: dH = V* dm, = x i + y + z k j Note that is the position vector of dm, and V* is the linear velocity, of dm, due to rotation . The value of V* can be computed as
i V* = = p x j q y k r = ( qz ry )i + ( rx pz ) + ( py qx )k j z

3. Substitute this V* into dH , and we have: i j k dH = V* dm = x y z dm ( qz ry ) ( rx pz ) ( py qx )

C o m p u ta tio n o f th e a n g u la r m o m e n tu m o f a n a ir c ra ft = p i + q j + r k

y -a x is

V* =

= x i + y j + z k

dm m ass e le m e n t

p
x -a x is

z -a x is

4. The above vector cross product can be expanded into as follows: dH = [ y ( py qx ) z ( rx pz )]dmi + [ z ( qz ry ) x ( py qx )]dm + [ x ( rx pz ) y ( qz ry )]dmk j 5. The angular momentum of the whole aircraft is found by integrating dH over the entire aircraft body, or: H = dH dm . j 6. Expand H into H = H x i + H y + H z k , this implies that: H x = p ( y 2 + z 2 )dm q xydm r xzdm H y = q ( x 2 + z 2 )dm r yzdm p xydm H z = r ( x 2 + y 2 )dm p xzdm q zydm ----- Note that p, q and r are independent of position, ( x 2 + y 2 )dm = I z

7. We can recognize the following moments of inertia terms: ( y 2 + z 2 )dm = I x , ( x 2 + z 2 )dm = I y , and the following product of inertia terms:

hence are moved out of the integration.

xy dm = I xy , yz dm = I yz , xz dm = I xz
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8. In general, the origin of the coordinates is at the center of mass and the aircraft is symmetrical right and left. Then, Ixy = I yz = 0 ; hence, H x = p Ix r I xz , H y = q I y , and H z = r I z p Ixz . 9. We can now compute the inertia moment M i = dH dt a. dH dt = H + H --- H is a vector in a non-inertial frame. j j b. H = H i + H + H k = ( p I r I )i + q I + ( r I p I )k
x y z x xz y z xz

i j k p q r c. H = pI x rI xz qI y rI z pI xz 10. Then, the following expressions of the inertial moment result: M i = dH / dt = M ix i + M iy + M iz k . j where M ix = { pI x + qr ( I z I y ) (r + pq) I xz }, M iy = { qI y + rp ( I x I z ) + ( p 2 r 2 ) I xz }, M iz = { rI z + pq( I y I x ) + (qr p ) I xz }.
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Governing equations of motion of an aircraft. 1. Fext + Fi = 0 Fext = Fi and M ext + M i = 0 M ext = M i . 2. Fext and M ext can be expanded into the following forms: x y z x x x Fext = Fext i + Fext + Fext k and M ext = M ext i + M ext + M ext k . j j 3. As a result, the following 6 equations of motion are obtained: x Fext = m( u + qw rv ),
y Fext = m( v + ru pw ), z Fext = m( w + pv qu ), x M ext = pI x + qr ( I z I y ) ( r + pq ) I xz , y M ext = qI y + rp( I x I z ) + ( p 2 r 2 ) I xz , z M ext = rI z + pq( I y I x ) + ( qr p ) I xz .

and

4. A computable equation of motion will require expansion of Fext and M ext in terms of the system variables, u, v, w, p, q, r , and their derivatives. This portion of work will constitute most part of this course. Decoupling of the governing equation of motion
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1. Approximations on Fi and M i of aircraft motion: a. The following conditions are mostly true for aircraft in general: p << 1, q << 1, r << 1, and v << 1. b. As a result, some second order terms of the equation become negligible, and the following approximations on Fi and M i can be made: Fi x = mu mqw Neglecting mrv, Fi y = mv and Fi z = mw + mqu M ix = pI x + rI xz M iy = qI y M iz = rI z + pI xz Neglecting m(ru pw), Neglecting mpv, Neglecting qr ( I z I y ) + pqI xz , Neglecting rp ( I x I z ) ( p 2 r 2 ) I xz , Neglecting pq ( I y I x ) qrI xz ,

mqw is preserved in Fi x and mqu is preserved in Fi z because they do not affect decoupling. We may also let Fi y to include mru , but it is often small

c. Approximated in this way, the 6 inertial terms can be separated into two
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uncoupled group of equations; each group of equations define a specific class of motion, termed the longitudinal motion and the lateral motion, respectively: Longitudinal motion equations Lateral motion equations Fi x = mu mqw M ix = pI x + rI xz Fi z = mw + mqu M iz = rI z + pI xz

M iy = qI y Fi y = mv 2. The uncouple phenomenon also apply to the components of Fext and M ext . Therefore, the subsequent discussions on aircraft motion will be done in two separate parts: (a) Longitudinal motion analysis, and (b) Lateral motion analysis. Basic assumptions made so far: 1. Rigid airframe and fixed earth. 2. Coordinates are fixed in body with the origin of coordinates at C.G. 3. Aircraft has lateral symmetry.

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