Flight Mechanics Course

Bruno Rangel Pacheco

 Frames of Reference
 Euler Angles
 Axis’ Rotation
Frames of Reference

 EARTH FRAME
 Inertial
 Fixed in place (no rotation of the Earth)

𝑥𝐸 N-S

𝑧𝐸

𝑦𝐸 E-W
 Frames of Reference
 POSITION VECTOR

Poistion vector of the aircraft with

EARTH AXIS
 Frames of Reference
 BODY FRAME
Translate EARTH axis to the CG of
the Aircraft
 Frames of Reference
 BODY FRAME
Rotate the Earth axis to match the
aircraft body axis – rotation angles
are called EULER ANGLES

𝑦𝐸

𝑥𝐸

𝑧𝐸
 Frames of Reference
 WIND / STABILITY AXIS
The frames up until now do not
depend on aerodynamics

Introducing α (Angle of attack) and β

𝑥𝑊

𝑦𝐵 𝑦 𝑆

𝑧𝐵 𝑦𝑊
𝑧 𝑆𝑊
𝑧
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
EARTH TO BODY ROTATION

𝑦𝐸

𝑥𝐸

𝑧𝐸
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
YAW ANGLE ROTATION
𝑥𝐸
𝑥1 𝑥1 = 𝑥 𝐸 cos 𝛹 + 𝑦 𝐸 sin 𝛹
𝛹
𝑦1 = −𝑥 𝐸 sin 𝛹 + 𝑦 𝐸 cos 𝛹
𝑧1 = 𝑧 𝐸

cos 𝛹 sin 𝛹 0
𝓛𝛹 = −sin 𝛹 cos 𝛹 0
𝑦𝐸
0 0 1

𝑦1
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
EARTH TO BODY ROTATION

𝑦𝐸

𝑥𝐸

𝑧𝐸
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
PITCH ANGLE ROTATION

𝑥2 = 𝑥1 cos 𝜃 − 𝑧1 sin 𝜃
𝑥2 = 𝑥 𝐵
𝑦2 = 𝑦1
𝑧2 = 𝑥1 sin 𝜃 + 𝑧1 cos 𝜃
𝜃

𝑥1
cos 𝜃 0 −sin 𝜃
𝓛𝜃 = 0 1 0
sin 𝜃 0 cos 𝜃

𝑧2 𝑧1 = z E
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
EARTH TO BODY ROTATION

𝑦𝐸

𝑥𝐸

𝑧𝐸
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
BANK ANGLE ROTATION

𝑥 𝐵 = 𝑥2
𝑦 𝐵 = 𝑦2 cos 𝜙 + 𝑧2 sin 𝜙
𝑧 𝐵 = −𝑦2 sin 𝜙 + 𝑧2 cos 𝜙

𝑦2
𝜙 1 0 0
𝓛𝜙 = 0 cos 𝜙 sin 𝜙
0 − sin 𝜙 cos 𝜙
yB
zB
𝑧2
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
COMPLETE ROTATION – EARTH TO BODY

𝐴𝐵 = 𝓛𝜙 [𝓛𝜃 (𝓛𝛹 𝐴𝐸 )] = 𝓛 𝐵𝐸 𝐴𝐸
𝑦𝐸

𝑥𝐸 cos 𝜃 cos 𝛹 cos 𝜃 sin 𝛹 − sin 𝜃

𝑧𝐸
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
COMPLETE ROTATION – BODY TO EARTH- just do the inverse

[𝓛𝜃 (𝓛𝜙 𝐴 )] = 𝓛 𝐸𝐵 𝐴𝐵
−1 −1 −1 𝐵
𝐴𝐸 = 𝓛𝛹
𝑦𝐸

𝑥𝐸 cos 𝜃 cos 𝛹 sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 cos 𝛹 − cos 𝜙 sin 𝛹 cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 cos 𝛹 + sin 𝜙 sin 𝛹
𝓛 𝐸𝐵 = cos 𝜃 sin 𝛹 cos 𝜙 cos 𝛹 + sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 sin 𝛹 −sin 𝜙 cos 𝛹 + cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 sin 𝛹
− sin 𝜃 sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃 cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃

𝑧𝐸
 Frames of Reference
 ROTATION OF FRAMES OF REFERENCE
EXAMPLE: Aircraft’s weight vector – its defined in inertial frame (EARTH AXIS)

0
𝑊𝐸 = 0
𝑚𝑔
Let’s define it in the body axis:
𝑊 𝐵 = 𝓛 𝐵𝐸 𝑊 𝐸
cos 𝜃 cos 𝛹 cos 𝜃 sin 𝛹 − sin 𝜃 0
𝑊
𝑊 𝐵 = sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 cos 𝛹 − cos 𝜙 sin 𝛹 cos 𝜙 cos 𝛹 + sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 sin 𝛹 sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃 0
cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 cos 𝛹 + sin 𝜙 sin 𝛹 −sin 𝜙 cos 𝛹 + cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 sin 𝛹 cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃 𝑚𝑔

−𝑚 𝑔 sin 𝜃
𝑊 𝐵 = 𝑚 𝑔 sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃
𝑚 𝑔 cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃