Types: Stability And Maneuverability Of The Airplane

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Stability and Maneuverability of the Airplanes

Maneuverability (its control) is ensured by the movements of moving parts of the plane making it possible to change its altitude, speed and direction.

Its stability is its property to be maintained at its altitude and to resist a displacement (due to a gust of wind for example) and in the event of perturbation to develop a force restoring the initial flying conditions. Until now we only considered the case of the airplane in cruising flight at constant speed and altitude. In this case we saw that the plane is subjected to 4 balanced forces (Lift-Weight, Thrust-Drag) applied in its center of gravity.

• Maneuverability of the Airplane

In addition to its displacement in horizontal direction, it is possible to consider side movements (rare for the planes) and rotation …show more content…

It remains to induce the idea of stability. One generally speaks about two types of concepts: static stability and dynamic stability. By definition, the plane is balanced (one also says trimmed) in flight when the resultants of the forces and the couples around the center of gravity are null. A modification of one of the parameters of flight caused either by an atmospheric disturbance (wind, turbulence), or by an action on the controls, modifies these forces and moments temporarily. If their resultants tend to bring back the apparatus towards a position of balance, the aerodyne is regarded as statically stable. If not, it is statically unstable. It is important to note that this definition implies a tendency. One makes also the distinction between stability with free controls or controls blocked, according to whether the controls can move freely or that they are maintained in a fixed position during the movement which follows the disturbance. Before takeoff, the pilot will have to adjust various controls to ensure this stability according to the load of the airplane. (Patricia,

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