Flight Dynamics and Control
19AEE403/23DT729
Lecture 1
Dr. Nikhil Kumar Singh
Assistant Professor
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore Campus
s_nikhilkumar@cb.amrita.edu
1
Syllabus
Unit 1
Review of Static Stability
Concepts and Introduction to Dynamic Stability
Review: Body Axis, Stability Axis, Earth Axis
Euler Angles
Transformation between axis
Advantages of different axis
Aircraft Equations of Motion.
2
Syllabus
Unit 2
Small Perturbation Theory: Linear Equations of Motion, Stability
Derivatives, Longitudinal and Lateral Modes
Concept and Physics
Characteristic Equation
Transfer Function Approach
State Space Modelling and its Application to Modes.
3
Syllabus
Unit 3
Flying and Handling Qualities
Autopilots
Stability Augmentation System (SAS).
Active Control Technology(ACT): Relaxed static stability, gust load
alleviation, direct lift control, direct side force generator.
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Course Outcome
CO1: Explain the static and dynamic stability of an aircraft
CO2: Apply ‘Small perturbation theory’ to derive Linear equations of motion of an
aircraft
CO3: Derive stability derivatives using first principles
CO4: Understand the concept and physics of Longitudinal and lateral Modes
CO5: Derive transfer function of aircraft motion for different control surface
inputs
CO6: Recognize the importance of Flying and Handling qualities
CO7: Discuss advanced concepts like stability augmentation system, autopilot,
and control configured vehicles
5
Evaluation Pattern
Assessment Internal End
Semester
Continuous 30
Assessment
Mid Term Exam 30
End Semester 40
6
Continuous Assessment (CA): 30 marks
Two Assignments (2 x 7.5 marks)
Two Quizzes (2 x 7.5 marks)
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Books
Textbook:
1. M.V. Cook, Flight Dynamics Principles, “A Linear Systems Approach To Aircraft
Stability And Control,” 3rd Edition, Elsevier, 2013.
References:
1. Robert C Nelson,” Introduction To Flight Stability And Automatic Control,” 2nd
Edition, Mcgraw-Hill, 1998.
2. Warren F Philips, “Mechanics Of Flight”, Wiley, 2004.
8
Prerequisites
Flight Mechanics
Control Theory
9
Introduction
Flight Dynamics: Flight dynamics deals with the motion of objects
moving in the earth’s atmosphere. These objects may be
Airplane
Helicopters
Rockets
Missile
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
This course is mainly focused on the motion of the Airplane.
10
Introduction
Flight Dynamics is generally divided into two main topics,
Airplane Performance
Airplane Stability and Control
Airplane performance deals with the determination of performance
characteristics such as,
Range
Endurance
Rate of climb
Takeoff and landing distance
Flight path optimization. 11
Introduction
One normally treats the airplane as a point mass acted on by gravity, lift,
drag, and thrust to evaluate these performance characteristics.
The accuracy of the performance calculations depends on how accurately
the lift, drag, and thrust can be determined.
Flight dynamics is concerned with the motion of an airplane due to
internally or externally generated disturbances.
We particularly are interested in the vehicle's stability and control
capabilities. 12
Introduction
To describe adequately the rigid-body motion of an airplane one needs to
consider the complete equations of motion with six degrees of freedom.
Again, this will require accurate estimates of the aerodynamic forces and
moments acting on the airplane.
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Different Airplanes
Airbus F-100
A 380
Boeing
787
14
Different Views of Airplane
15
Airplane Components
16
Plane of Symmetry and Body Axes System
17
Body axes system, forces, moments and linear and
angular velocities
18
Earth fixed and body fixed co-ordinate
systems
19
Airplane Translational Degrees of Freedom
20
Airplane Rotational Degrees of Freedom
21
Yaw angle
22
Pitch angle
23
Pitch angle
24
Airplane in a climb
25
Airplane in a turn – view from top
26
Angle of bank ( 𝜑 )
27
Angle of attack and forces on a airfoil
28
Flight path in the plane of symmetry
29
Velocity components in a general case and definition of
angle of attack and sideslip
30
