Module 3: Stability and Control : Longitudinal and Manoeuvring

STATIC LONGITUDINAL STABILITY

Introduction :

The study of the static longitudinal stability of an airplane is very important. Longitudinal stability, as
we shall see, is intimately related to the e.g. travel and the loading configuration of an airplane. In
addition the handling characteristics of an airplane in longitudinal flight are also determined by the
static margin.

Analysis :

The well known condition for a longitudinally stable airplane is - dCm/dα= Cmα<0 and Cmα>0

(5.A.1)

Where α is the angle of attack and CM is the moment coefficient about c.g. The condition for neutral
stability is then -

Cmα = 0 (5.A.2)

i.e. the pitching moment is independent of the angle of attack. In what follows, it may be shown,
that the longitudinal stability creation for a conventional airplane is closely linked to the c.g.
position, and that the neutral stability condition Eq. (5.A.2) dictates the almost c.g. location.

The pitching moment has contributions from the fuselage, nacelle, wing and tail. Summed together
they appear as may also be calibrated in a similar manner. The positions of both ailerons are
measured and differential angular positions noted. The rudder position is measured with the help of
a protractor by attaching a pointer to the rudder.

The stick force strain gages are calibrated directly by fixing the control arm and subjecting it to
various loads applied through static weights.

It is necessary to do your own calibration.

Flight Test Procedure :

Stick Fixed :

The condition of stick-fixed neutral stability requires determination of the c.g. position for which
dSe / dCL is zero. A simple method of doing this in flight is to fly the airplane for a given c.g. location
at various speeds or CL and measure the corresponding elevator angle to trim. The procedure is
repeated for different c.g. locations. The slope of the Se - CL curves are plotted against xc.g. and the
intersection of this curve with the xc.g. axis gives the stick fixed neutral point.

Stick Free :
Stick free neutral stability the c.g. position is obtained from d(Fs / q) / dcL = 0. In flight this is
measured by flying the airplane with a given c.g. location at different speeds (i.e. CL and q values)
and measuring the stick force at each speed. The procedure is repeated for different c.g. locations.
The slope of the (Fs /q) - CL curve is plotted against x c.g axis gives the stick free neutral point.

An alternative method consists of measuring the tab angle required to trim the airplane at each
speed.

Instrumentation :

Neutral points are determined by measuring the elevator deflection angle Se , airspeed V, stick force
FS, or tab angle te.

The airspeed may be obtained from the ASI and correcting the readings using a calibration chart. The
elevator angle is measured installing a potentiometer in the elevator torque tube system so that the
elevator deflection may be transformed to an electrical signal. The potentiometer is calibrated on
the ground by physically measuring the elevator angle with an inclinometer and plotting it against
the potentiometer reading.

The stick force may be measured by placing four strain gauges in a bridge circuit on the stick and
sealing it off against moisture and dust. The signals are amplified before feeding it to an indicator.
Calibration is done by applying known loads to the stick and plotting it against reading.

Flight Brief :

Here the flight procedure suggested will enable collection of both the stick fixed and stick free
neutral points together.

1. A turbulence free procedure and a stable prescribed altitude is chosen and the airplane
trimmed at a suitable speed so that the stick forces, in the entire range of investigation, are within
the pilot's control. This speed may be determined by trimming the airplane at some speed and
checking for the stick forces by flying at the extreme ends of the range of investigation. Two or three
trials should be sufficient to determine a comfortable trim speed. This, however, need not be done if
the tab is used to trim the airplane at each speed.

2. The airplane is flown at various speed (and trimmed if t is to be measured) from rear stall t
the maximum attainable speed at a chosen altitude. When the speed stabilizes the readings from the
ASI, elevator potentiometer and the stick force potentiometer or the trim tab are taken.

3. This procedure is repeated for different power settings, flap deflections and various external
configurations to obtain a complete picture of the longitudinal stability of the airplane.

Dynamic Stability :

Dynamic Longitudinal Stability

Stability is the tendency of an airplane to fly a prescribed flight course. Dynamic longitudinal stability
concerns the motion of a statically stable airplane, one that will return to equilibrium after being
disturbed. Basically, there are two primary forms of longitudinal oscillations with regard to an
airplane attempting to return to equilibrium after being disturbed.

1. A short period mode that usually is heavily damped, whose period is determined largely by the
vehicle pitch stiffness Cmα, and which is damped primarily by pitch- and angle-of-attackdamping,
Cmq and Cmα˙, respectively; and

2. A lightly damped, low frequency, phugoid mode whose period is nearly independent of vehicle
parameters and inversely proportional to the flight velocity, and for which the damping ratio is
proportional approximately to the ratio CD/CL, which is small for efficient vehicles.

The phugoid mode of oscillation, which is a long-period, slow oscillation of the airplane's flight path.
The pilot generally can control this oscillation himself. The second oscillation is a short-period
variation of the angle of attack. Usually, this oscillation decreases very quickly with no pilot effort.
However, with its natural short period, the oscillation may worsen if a pilot attempts to lessen it by
use of a control because of the pilot's slow reaction time where he may get "out of phase" with the
oscillation, and thus induce dynamical instability that may eventually lead to destructive forces.

A short-term oscillation occurs if the elevators are left free. This is called the "porpoising" mode, and
is influenced by the elevator balance. The main effect is vertical accelerations of the airplane that
may get out of hand if a coupling between the free elevator and airplane occur. Proper design is
essential here.

Insofar as compressibility effects are concerned, the rearward movement of the aerodynamic center
of the wing as the airplane goes supersonic is most evident. This condition increases the static
stability to such an extent that the airplane may "tuck under" and be extremely stable in a steep
dive.

One answer to this problem is to move the center of gravity rearward by a transfer of fuel as the
airplane goes supersonic. Other solutions include the double-delta wing configuration or canards
placed at the nose of the airplane to develop an additional nose-up moment due to lift in the
transonic and supersonic range. (A moment is a measure of the body's tendency to turn about its
center of gravity.) This arrangement has an added advantage of contributing to the airplane's lift.

The use of a canard for trim and a rear sailplane for control is beneficial. The canard would trim the
rearward shift of the aerodynamic center at supersonic speeds and the strong nose-down moments
from high-lift devices (flaps) at low speeds by providing uplift. When not used, the canard can be
allowed to trail in the free stream at zero lift and also generate minimum drag.
Stick fixed manoeuvre stability

Static margins is expressed in terms of distance between centre of gravity and a neutral point, we
can express manoeuvre characteristics in terms of a manoeuvre point, whose position can be
estimated on a real aircraft using measured data.

When ∆η/n = 0 the centre of gravity is at the stick fixed manoeuvre point,

so that there is a relationship between the stick-fixed manoeuvre margin and the elevator angle to
trim for a given acceleration,

in the same way that the static margin stick-fixed is related to the elevator angle to trim in steady
level flight,

The stick fixed manoeuvre margin, Hm, is then defined in the obvious way,

Hm = hm − h.

Stick free manoeuvre stability

Given the stick-fixed manoeuvre characteristics of an aircraft, we

can determine how it will perform aerodynamically in a manoeuvre, but we must also consider the
pilot input required for a

given acceleration.

From eq.5.1 the hinge moment required to trim in steady flight is

DATA ACQUSITION AND DATA REDUCTION
MODULE 4
Lateral and Dynamic stability

Coupling between rolling and yawing moments

Steady heading and side slip
Definition of Roll Stability

Directional stability

Directional stability is associated with the realigning of the longitudinal axis

with the flight path (the angle of zero slip) after a disturbance causes the
aircraft to yaw out of alignment and produce slip; remember yaw is a rotation
about the normal (vertical) axis. The restoring moment – the static stability –
provided by the fin is the product of the fin area and the moment arm and the
moment arm leverage will vary according to the cg position – the aircraft's
balance.

The area required for the fin has some dependency on the net sum of all the
restoring moments associated with the aircraft fuselage and undercarriage side
surfaces fore (negative moments) and aft (positive moments) of the cg. Some
aircraft have ventral or dorsal fins added to increase their directional stability.

The areas of side surface above and below the cg also affect other aspects of
stability.

The similar term 'weathercocking' refers to the action of an aircraft, moving on

the ground, attempting to swing into wind. It is brought about by the pressure
of the wind on the rear keel surfaces, fin and rudder causing the aeroplane to
pivot about one or both of its main wheels.
Many of the basic ideas involving longitudinal stability also apply to directional
stability. In the usual equilibrium condition, an airplane flies so that the yaw
angle is zero. To have static directional stability, a positive yawing moment
should be generated if the airplane is disturbed to a negative yaw angle or
alternatively by convention, a positive sideslip angle ß and a negative yawing
moment generated for a negative sideslip angle excursion. If the airplane holds
its disturbed position, it has neutral directional stability. If the tendency is to
increase the disturbed position, farther away from equilibrium, the airplane is
directionally unstable

The fuselage and the vertical tail are the two most influential components in
directional stability. When an airplane is in a disturbed condition at a sideslip
angle ß, in general the fuselage alone will generate a moment that tends to
increase the disturbance; that is, it is unstable. The vertical tail (the rudder) is
the main component of static directional stability. When placed at an angle of
attack due to the sideslip disturbance, it generates a side force which when
multiplied by the moment arm (center of gravity of airplane to aerodynamic
center of vertical tail) produces a stabilizing moment that tends to move the
airplane back to a zero sideslip or yaw condition. The vertical tail usually has a
low aspect ratio to prevent stalling. If a stall should occur, instability results
and a catastrophic sideslip divergence may result. Adding more vertical tail by
use of a dorsal fin extension or ventral tail area provides a stable yawing
moment at large sideslip angles.

A tractor propeller of a typical airplane is a destabilizing influence on the

directional stability, and it also imparts a rotational velocity to the slipstream.
It produces a sidewash angle at the tail that reduces the static stability
effectiveness of the tail. This effect can be very pronounced in aircraft with
large engines. The Grumman F8F Bearcat, a carrier plane, would require a
certain degree of rudder offset by the pilot to counteract the yaw induced by
the sidewash during high-powered takeoffs. Contrarotating propellers are a
solution to this problem.

The wing's degree of sweep influences the yawing moments. A sweptback wing
will add to the directional stability whereas, a swept-forward wing will detract
from the total directional stability since it is by itself a destabilizing influence.
This is a contributing reason for choosing sweptback wings over swept-forward
wings.

Lateral stability

Dihedral is often used as a means to improve lateral stability. In straight and

level flight, the lift produced by both wings just equals the weight. But if a
disturbance causes one wing to drop relative to the other, the lift vector
rotates and there is a component of the weight acting inward that causes the
airplane to move sideways in this direction. The airplane is said to sideslip and
the relative free-stream direction is now in a direction toward which the
airplane is sideslipping. If the airplane is laterally stable, moments arise that
tend to reduce the bank angle. From geometric considerations, when wings
have dihedral, the wing closer to the sideslip, the lower wing, will experience a
greater angle of attack than the raised wing and hence greater lift. There
results a net force and moment tending to reduce the bank angle.

The position of the wing also has an impact on the lateral stability. A high-wing
airplane design, contributes to the lateral stability, whereas a low wing
placement has a destabilizing effect in roll. However, this effect may be
counteracted by including more dihedral to improve the overall lateral
stability.

Wing sweep will help promote lateral stability. When a swept-wing airplane is
sideslipping, the wing toward the sideslip will experience a higher velocity
normal to (perpendicular to) the wing's leading edge than the wing away from
the sideslip. More lift is generated on the wing toward the sideslip and a roll
moment arises that tends to diminish the bank angle and return the airplane to
equilibrium. The combination of dihedral and sweep may produce too much
lateral stability and some airplanes will use a small amount of anhedral (wings
turned down slightly) to lessen the lateral stability.

The effects of the fuselage and vertical tail may contribute to or detract from
the airplane lateral stability. In a sideslip, there will be a side force caused by
the area presented by the fuselage and vertical tail. If the side force acts above
the center of gravity, there is a roll moment generated that tends to diminish
the bank angle. If the side force is below the center of gravity, there is a
destabilizing moment set up that will further increase the bank angle.
Destabilizing moments that also tend to increase the bank angle of an airplane
in a sideslip arise because of the direction of the slipstream for a propeller-
driven airplane and the use of partial span flaps. Added dihedral or sweep
again may be used to decrease these detrimental effects.

Lateral and directional stability are interrelated. Briefly, the motions of an

airplane are such that a roll motion causes a yaw motion and a yaw motion
causes a roll motion. Thus, cross-coupling exists between the directional static
stability and lateral static stability and gives rise to the three important
dynamic motions observed: directional divergence, spiral divergence, and
Dutch roll.

Directional divergence is a result of a directionally unstable airplane. When the

airplane yaws or rolls into a sideslip so that side forces on the airplane are
generated, the yawing moments that arise continue to increase the sideslip.
This condition may continue until the airplane is broadside to the relative wind.

Dutch roll is a motion exhibiting characteristics of both directional divergence

and spiral divergence. The lateral stability is strong, whereas the directional
stability is weak. If a sideslip disturbance occurs, as the airplane yaws in one
direction, the airplane rolls away in a countermotion. The airplane wags its tail
from side to side.

Ventral fins, although primarily used to augment the vertical fin that may be in
the wake of the wing at high angles of attack, are also beneficial in decreasing
the lateral stability .

Spiral instability :

Spiral divergence is characterized by an airplane that is very stable directionally

but not very stable laterally; for example, a large finned airplane with no
dihedral. In this case when the airplane is in a bank and sideslipping, the side
force tends to turn the plane into the relative wind. The outer wing travels
faster, generates more lift, and the airplane will roll to still a higher bank angle.
No lateral stability is present to negate this roll. The bank angle increases and
the airplane continues to turn into the sideslip in an ever-tightening spiral.

An aircraft with positive spiral stability tends to roll out of a turn by itself if the
controls are centred. Some light aircraft with little or no wing dihedral and a
large fin tend to have strong static directional stability but are not so stable
laterally. If a sideslip is introduced by turbulence – and left to their own devices
– such aircraft will gradually start to bank and turn, with increasing slip and
hence increasing turn rate and rapid increase in height loss. The condition is
spiral instability and the process is spiral divergence which, if allowed to
continue and given sufficient height, will turn into a high speed spiral dive.
Neutral spiral stability is the usual aim of the designer.

It is evident that directional stability and lateral stability are coupled and to
produce a balanced turn, i.e. with no slip or skid, the aileron, rudder and
elevator control movements and pressures must be balanced and co-
ordinated.
Adverse Yaw and its effects

As the aircraft rolls because one aileron is deflected downward while the other is deflected upward.
Lift increases on the wing with the downward-deflected aileron because the deflection effectively
increases the camber of that portion of the wing. Conversely, lift decreases on the wing with the
upward-deflected aileron since the camber is decreased. The result of this difference in lift is that the
wing with more lift rolls upward to create the desired rolling motion.

Unfortunately, drag is also affected by this aileron deflection. More specifically, two types of
drag, called induced drag and profile drag, are increased when ailerons are deployed. Induced drag is
a form of drag that is induced by any surface that generates lift. The more lift a surface produces the
more induced drag it will cause (for a given wingspan and wing area). Thus, the wing on which the
aileron is deflected downward to generate more lift also experiences more induced drag than the
other wing. Profile drag includes all other forms of drag generated by the wing, primarily skin friction
and pressure drag. This profile drag increases on both wings when the ailerons are deflected, but the
increase is equal when the ailerons are deflected by the same amount. However, the induced drag
on each side is not equal, and a larger total drag force exists on the wing with the down aileron. This
difference in drag creates a yawing motion in the opposite direction of the roll. Since the yaw motion
partially counteracts the desired roll motion, we call this effect adverse yaw.

Methods to avoid Adverse Yaw

1. Frise Ailerons:

The concept behind this particular kind of aileron is to minimize the profile drag on the
wing with the down aileron while increasing the profile drag on the wing with the up aileron. This
difference in profile drag counteracts the effect of induced drag thereby creating a yawing motion
that at least partially cancels the adverse yaw effect.

Frise ailerons accomplish this differential profile drag by maintaining a smooth contour between the
upper surfaces of the wing and aileron, causing very little drag, while the bottom surface of the
aileron juts downward to create a large increase in profile drag. Although this approach is simple and
does provide some relief, the performance of Frise ailerons is very dependent on operating
conditions. For this reason, such ailerons are often only partially effective at overcoming adverse
yaw.

2. Differential Ailerons:

Another approach to solving adverse yaw is to deflect the ailerons by differing amounts.
The deflection of the down aileron is typically much less than the up aileron so that the additional
profile drag is very small compared to that on the up aileron.

3. Spoilers:

Spoilers are long narrow flat plates typically fitted along the upper surface of both wings. In
normal flight, spoilers lie flat and generate no effect on the aerodynamic performance of the wing.
However, the spoilers can be raised upward into the airflow to generate large turbulence that
reduces the lift and increases the drag on a wing. It is used in civil aircrafts

When used in coordination with ailerons, a spoiler can be used to reduce the lift and
increase the profile drag on the wing with the up aileron. As a result, the wing with the down aileron
experiences a large increase in lift and a small increase in drag while the wing with the up aileron
experiences a large decrease in lift and a large increase in drag. These effects combine to create the
desired roll motion and a complimenting yaw motion that is called proverse yaw.

4. Cross-Coupled Controls:

One of the most effective solutions to adverse yaw is to couple the ailerons and rudder
so that both surfaces deflect simultaneously. As the ailerons create a yaw motion in one direction,
the rudder automatically deflects to create a yaw motion in the opposite direction. The two effects
counteract each other eliminating the undesired yaw. This form of cross-coupling was often built
into the cable-and-pulley control systems of older aircraft. The problem was recognized even as
early as the Wright brothers who incorporated such controls into the Wright Flyer. In addition, most
major aircraft today utilize some sort of computerized fly-by-wire control system, and it is rather
trivial to program cross-coupled control measures into the automated system

Aileron Reversal

A number of aircraft when flying near their maximum speed are subject to an important aero-elastic
phenomenon. No real structure is ideally rigid; and it has static and dynamic flexibility. Wings are
usually produced from aerospace materials such as aluminum and composite materials and have
structures which are flexible. This flexibility causes the wing not to be able to maintain its geometry
and integrity especially in high speed flight operations. This phenomenon which is referred to as
aileron reversal negatively influences the aileron effectiveness.

Consider the right-section of a flexible wing with a downward deflected aileron to create a negative
rolling moment. At subsonic speeds, the increment aerodynamic load due to aileron deflection has a
centroid somewhere near the middle of the wing chord. At supersonic speeds, the control load acts
mainly on the deflected aileron itself, and hence has its centroid even farther to the rear. If this load
centroid is behind the elastic axis of the wing structure, then a nose-down twist (twist) of the main
wing surface (about y axis) results. The purpose of this deflection was to raise the right-wing section.
However, the

wing twist reduces the wing angle of attack, and consequently a reduction of the lift on the right-
section of the wing (Figure 12.16). In extreme cases, the down-lift due to aeroelastic twist will
exceed the commanded up-lift, so the net effect is reversed. This change in the lift direction will
consequently generate a positive rolling moment. This undesired rolling moment implies that the
aileron has lost its effectiveness and the roll control derivative,has changed its sign. Such
phenomenon is referred to as aileron reversal. This phenomenon poses a significant constraint on
aileron design. In addition, structural design of the wing must examine this aeroelasticity effect of
aileron deflection. The aileron reversal often occurs at high speeds. Most high performance aircraft
have an aileron reversal speed beyond which the ailerons lose their effectiveness.

The F-14 fighter aircraft experiences aileron reversal at high speed.

Clearly, such aileron reversal is not acceptable within the flight envelope, and must be considered
during design process. A number of solutions for such problem are:

1.Making the wing stiffer,

2. Limit the range of aileron deflections at high speed,

3.employing two sets of ailerons; one set at inboard wing section for high speed flight, and one set
at outboard wing section for high speed flight,

4. Reduce the aileron chord,

5.Using spoiler for roll control,

6. Moving the ailerons toward wing inboard section.

The transport aircraft Boeing 747 has three different types of roll control device: inboard ailerons,
outboard ailerons, and spoilers. The outboard ailerons are disabled except in low-speed flights when
the flaps are also deflected. Spoilers are essentially flat plates of about 10-15% chord located just
ahead of the flaps. When spoilers are raised, they cause a flow separation and local loss of lift. Thus,
to avoid roll reversal within the operational flight envelope, the wing structure must be designed
with sufficient stiffness.
Regulations

CAR says that “Any short period oscillation occurring between stalling and maximum permissible
speed shall be heavily damped FAR with primary controls free and fixed position.

FAR considers only as dynamic stability under one heading. It specially speaks about dutch roll
oscillation that occurs between stalling speed and maximum allowable speed must be damped to
1/10 amplitude in 7 cycles with the primary controls fixed and free. If stability augmentation system
is needed to meet the flight characteristics requirement then aircraft does not have to meet the
controls fixed portion.

Test technique
Methods of data reduction
MODULE5

Flying qualities is one of the three principal regimes in the science of flight test, which also includes
performance and systems. Flying qualities involves the study and evaluation of the stability and
control characteristics of an aircraft. They have a critical bearing on the safety of flight and on the
ease of controlling an airplane in steady flight and in maneuvers.

To understand the discipline of flying qualities, the concept of stability should be understood.
Stability can be defined only when the vehicle is in trim; that is, there are no unbalanced forces or
moments acting on the vehicle to cause it to deviate from steady flight. If this condition exists, and if
the vehicle is disturbed, stability refers to the tendency of the vehicle to return to the trimmed
condition. If the vehicle initially tends to return to a trimmed condition, it is said to be statically
stable. If it continues to approach the trimmed condition without overshooting, the motion is called
a subsidence. If the motion causes the vehicle to overshoot the trimmed condition, it may oscillate
back and forth. If this oscillation damps out, the motion is called a damped oscillation and the
vehicle is said to be dynamically stable. On the other hand, if the motion increases in amplitude, the
vehicle is said to be dynamically unstable.

MIL-F-8785C, MILITARY SPECIFICATION: FLYING QUALITIES OF PILOTED AIRPLANES (05 NOV 1980.,
This specification contains the requirements for the flying and handling qualities, in flight and on the
ground, of U.S. Military, manned, piloted airplanes except for flight at airspeeds below Vcon

FAA Standard: The difference between a good flying airplane and poor flying airplane can best be
understood by studying flying qualities. Since the beginning of flight, designers have studied what
qualities make an airplane easy to fly. Early on, simply creating a stable aircraft was the main goal. As
flight mechanics

became more advanced, so did our understanding of desirable flight characteristics. From flying
quality research came new standards developed for military and civil aircraft to ensure new designs
would have favorable qualities. Among the most influential of these standards was MIL-F-8785 used
for design of

military aircraft. From MIL-F-8785c, the purpose of the document is to, “…assure flying qualities that
provide adequate mission performance and flight safety regardless of design implementation or
flight control system mechanization.” Though currently replaced with MIL-STD-1797, the majority of
MIL-F8785 is included as suggested requirements in MIL-STD-1797. The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) defines similar flying qualities requirements in the Federal Aviation Regulations
(FARs) parts 25and 23.

The following tables define flying quality levels, aircraft classification, and flight phase as defined in
MIL-F-8785c.

Table 1. Levels of Flying Qualities

Flying Quality Levels

Flying qualities Flight Phase

Level 1 clearly adequate for
the mission

Level 2 adequate to but some increase in

accomplish the pilot workload or
mission degradation in mission
effectiveness, or both,
exists
Level 3 the airplane can be workload is excessive
controlled safely or mission
effectiveness is
inadequate, or both.
Category A Flight
Phases can be
terminated safely, and
Category B and C
Flight Phases can be
completed.

Spin

Spin-entry procedures vary with the type and model of aircraft being flown but there are general
procedures applicable to most aircraft. These include reducing power to idle and simultaneously
raising the nose in order to induce an upright stall. Then, as the aircraft approaches stall, apply full
rudder in the desired spin direction while holding full back-elevator pressure for an upright spin.
Sometimes a roll input is applied in the direction opposite of the rudder (i.e., a cross-control).

If the aircraft manufacturer provides a specific procedure for spin recovery, that procedure must be
used. Otherwise, to recover from an upright spin, the following generic procedure may be used:
Power is first reduced to idle and the ailerons are neutralized. Then, full opposite rudder (that is,
against the yaw) is added and held to counteract the spin rotation, and the elevator control is moved
briskly forward to reduce the angle of attack below the critical angle. Depending on the airplane and
the type of spin, the elevator action could be a minimal input before rotation ceases, or in other
cases the elevator control may have to be moved to its full forward position to effect recovery from
the upright spin. Once the rotation has stopped, the rudder must be neutralized and the airplane
returned to level flight. This procedure is sometimes called PARE, for Power idle, Ailerons neutral,
Rudder opposite the spin and held, and Elevator through neutral.

Flutter

Flutter in aircraft causes the wings and / or stabilizers to oscillate. When the airspeed increases the
energy added in each oscillation to the structure by the aerodynamic forces increases. At some
speed the damping of the structure may be insufficient to absorb the energy increase from the
aerodynamic loads and the amplitude of the harmonic oscillations will grow until the structure
breaks.

A flutter test is performed to determine what speed flutter occurs yet is still damped. Theoretically
an aircraft should be able to stay structurally intact up to the design dive speed (V_d$) which is at
least 1.4 times the design cruise speed. In flight tests, the V_d$ is not always demonstrated as this is
very risky since there would not be any margin from breaking up. The maximum speed is slowly
increased in subsequent flight tests with careful data analyses in between up to a point where the
test team decides that it is no longer safe to continue. This establishes the maximum demonstrated
dive speed (V_{df}$); the published maximum operating speed (V_{mo}$) and never-exceed speed
(V_{ne}$) are well below V_{df}$ to give margin from disaster.

Aeroelastic flutter is a dynamic instability of an elastic structure where there is feeding between the
deformation of the structure and the force provided by the aerodynamics.

Is a very dangerous condition where the vibration on the structure keeps growing and so the stress
over it, endangering safe flight. It is a condition that needs to be completely avoided in a commercial
flight.

Airplane manufacturers need to provide information to airlines of the operation envelope of the
airplane, and part of that information is to include region of flutter to be avoided (or maximum time
on it).

For providing such information manufacturers predict using internal methods (usually simulation)
the flutter speed for each condition, but certification authorities request that a physical test is
perform to detect the flutter velocity which will be the final speed provided in the airplane manuals.

How is made? Taking a specific airplane weight the flight test pilots approach steadily step by step to
the flutter speed until certain level of vibration is obtained, determining the final airplane flutter
speed

Cooper Harper Scale : Please study last seRecovery procedure

Spin-entry procedures vary with the type and model of aircraft being flown but there are general
procedures applicable to most aircraft. These include reducing power to idle and simultaneously
raising the nose in order to induce an upright stall. Then, as the aircraft approaches stall, apply full
rudder in the desired spin direction while holding full back-elevator pressure for an upright spin.
Sometimes a roll input is applied in the direction opposite of the rudder (i.e., a cross-control).

If the aircraft manufacturer provides a specific procedure for spin recovery, that procedure must be
used. Otherwise, to recover from an upright spin, the following generic procedure may be used:
Power is first reduced to idle and the ailerons are neutralized. Then, full opposite rudder (that is,
against the yaw) is added and held to counteract the spin rotation, and the elevator control is moved
briskly forward to reduce the angle of attack below the critical angle. Depending on the airplane and
the type of spin, the elevator action could be a minimal input before rotation ceases, or in other
cases the elevator control may have to be moved to its full forward position to effect recovery from
the upright spin. Once the rotation has stopped, the rudder must be neutralized and the airplane
returned to level flight. This procedure is sometimes called PARE, for Power idle, Ailerons neutral,
Rudder opposite the spin and held, and Elevator through neutral.

Flutter

Flutter in aircraft causes the wings and / or stabilizers to oscillate. When the airspeed increases the
energy added in each oscillation to the structure by the aerodynamic forces increases. At some
speed the damping of the structure may be insufficient to absorb the energy increase from the
aerodynamic loads and the amplitude of the harmonic oscillations will grow until the structure
breaks.

A flutter test is performed to determine what speed flutter occurs yet is still damped. Theoretically
an aircraft should be able to stay structurally intact up to the design dive speed (V_d$) which is at
least 1.4 times the design cruise speed. In flight tests, the V_d$ is not always demonstrated as this is
very risky since there would not be any margin from breaking up. The maximum speed is slowly
increased in subsequent flight tests with careful data analyses in between up to a point where the
test team decides that it is no longer safe to continue. This establishes the maximum demonstrated
dive speed (V_{df}$); the published maximum operating speed (V_{mo}$) and never-exceed speed
(V_{ne}$) are well below V_{df}$ to give margin from disaster.

Aeroelastic flutter is a dynamic instability of an elastic structure where there is feeding between the
deformation of the structure and the force provided by the aerodynamics.

Is a very dangerous condition where the vibration on the structure keeps growing and so the stress
over it, endangering safe flight. It is a condition that needs to be completely avoided in a commercial
flight.

Airplane manufacturers need to provide information to airlines of the operation envelope of the
airplane, and part of that information is to include region of flutter to be avoided (or maximum time
on it).

For providing such information manufacturers predict using internal methods (usually simulation)
the flutter speed for each condition, but certification authorities request that a physical test is
perform to detect the flutter velocity which will be the final speed provided in the airplane manuals.
How is made? Taking a specific airplane weight the flight test pilots approach steadily step by step to
the flutter speed until certain level of vibration is obtained, determining the final airplane flutter
speed

Flight Test Procedures:

• Before a flight test is made, the documents covering the maintenance repair, modification
and inspection shall be completed in all respects and certified in

accordance with the approved procedures listed in Quality Control Manual/ Maintenance System
Manual, and shall be produced before the pilot of the

aircraft, if required.

• When the requirements of para 4.1 have been met, and before the test flight, a certificate,
to the effect that the aircraft is fit for the flight, shall be issued in

duplicate on a proforma, by a licensed/approved individual who is permitted to issue Flight Release

(vide CAR Section 2 Series 'F'). One copy shall be

delivered to the pilot test flying the aircraft and the other copy shall be retained by the operator.

• The licensed individual who signs the pre-test flight certification documents shall also ensure
that the document shows the purpose of test flight and the

information required to be observed/recorded during the test flight by the flight crew. The pilot test
flying the aircraft shall also be briefed on these aspects.

PROCEDURE DURING TEST FLIGHT:

• Operators shall, for each type of aircraft operated by them, provide in an approved routine
test flight schedule, the detailed procedure to be

followed/observed while performing the flight test.

• It shall be the responsibility of the operator to keep the test flight schedule, vis-a-vis
manufacturer's/ DGCA's requirements, up-to-date.

• As far as practicable, the routine test flight will be conducted at maximum all-upweight,
authorised for the type of aircraft, keeping in view the limitation imposed by the factors like
aerodrome altitude/temperature, runway length etc.

• The routine test flight procedure will at least ensure: -

(i) that "all-engine-operating climb performance is within acceptable limits, specified by the
manufacturer/DGCA, while effecting climb at the "best climbing speed ‘

(ii) that the cruise speed at the cruising engine power, is within the range specified;

(iii) that the stalling speed has not increased beyond the figure specified by the manufacturer/
DGCA.
 (iv) that through normal operating range of the aircraft no abnormal vibrations exist;

(v) that flight controls operate and respond normally and satisfactorily.

Note: - The stalling characteristics of the aircraft if required to be checked, must be

checked at a safe altitude.

(vi) The radio/ radar equipment functions correctly as installed in the aircraft and the operating
range is satisfactory.

FLIGHT TEST REPORT:

A flight test report appropriates to the flight test performed shall be completed by the pilot- in-
command or by any other flight crewmember of the aircraft,

authorised by the operator. The report shall detail the result of the flight test and record all defects
experienced and adjustments made during the flight, besides

recording of instruments readings as called for in the report (schedule). The pilot-in-command shall
be responsible for recording the result of the test flight and for making such comments in writing as
considered necessary for a further test flight. A flight test report and record of defects and
adjustments shall be made in the flight logbook of the aircraft or other equivalent document
approved by the Director General.