PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Stability Wars: Why Did Relaxed Lose?
View Single Post
Old 4th Mar 2015, 03:55
  #37 (permalink)  
Microburst2002
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Uh... Where was I?
Posts: 1,338
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks FCeng84, that clarifies a lot to me.

One more thing. I used to read lots of aerodynamics like the naval aviators and others, and in the stability and control chapter I got a little lost. Static stability is easy to understand, aerodynamic center I understand, too, but then those graphs about the stick forces and the part of dynamic stability is more complicated. The phugoid mode I understand. The so called second mode not so much. The way I understand it is that as a gust affects the angle of attack, because the cg is in the correct side of the aerodynamic center (stable) the airplane will counteract the pitching moment. Now, in case I pull the control column and create a nose up moment with elevator deflection, this second mode applies too, right? and then the nose up moment I created will be less and less, even if the control is kept at the same deflection, and the pitching rate less and less, until it is totally cancelled, because the airplane is stable in pitch. And this occurs in just a couple of seconds or so. And if the airplane is unstable, the pitch rate would just increase and require reversed stick force to try to control it. If it was neutrally stable it would remain constant, so I guess it would be similar to an Airbus with some pull angle in the sidestick. It will keep pitching up until some protection activates. Except in the neutral airplane there would be no stick forces?
Microburst2002 is offline