Scroggs
You're right, except on one detail:
Quote:
"A dihedral wing will, if the roll is stopped at a small bank angle, still have a greater amount of effective lift from the into-roll wing than the outer wing due to its lift vector being closer to the vertical, and will tend to return to S&L flight."
This is a common misconception. I've even seen it in some (not so good) textbooks on the subject.
The truth is this:
As long as the amount of lift from each wing is the same and the lift distribution is equal (ie no sideslip), the aircraft will not return to S&L flight. The angle between the lift vectors and the vertical is irrelevant. A restoring moment will not be produced by the lower wing's lift vector being closer to the vertical. This is because the moment produced by the lower wing around the CG is exactly balanced by the moment produced by the upper wing(same amount of lift acting at the same distance from the CG). This is true regardless of the amount of dihedral and bank. To return the aircraft to S&L flight a sideslip or a control input is needed.
------------------
"Recovery was marginal..."
[This message has been edited by Vmu (edited 17 November 2000).]