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Review for Midterm Exam 1: Longitudinal Static Stability Controls

Problem 1 An airplane weighs 44,000N with the cg at the 27% of MAC; the wing planform area is 28m2; and the
elevator can be deflected from ‐20˚ to 15˚. (1) Find the trim angle of attack (trim) and corresponding elevator
deflection angle (e,trim) for a steady level flight at the altitude of 2,500m with the flight speed of 140m/s; and also
(2) estimate the usable cg range when the maximum lift is required during landing and the cg can be moved forward
due to deployment of landing gears and flaps. The pitching moment and lift coefficient curves as functions of an
angle of attack for various elevator deflections are presented below.
(Pitching moment coefficient about cg for the whole airplane) Lift coefficient of the wing

 e  0

Solution:

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Problem 2 An airplane, which weighs 1223.2N (virtually constant during the flight conditions below)
with the cg at the 29.5% of MAC (mean aerodynamic chord), is flying at an altitude of 1,520m with the
flight speed 73m/s. Find the trim elevator deflection angle for a steady level flight, and also estimate the
usable cg range when CLmax=1.8 is required during landing with ‐30˚⦤δe⦤20˚. The wing reference area is
17.1m2, and the pitching moment curves for several elevator angles with respect to the lift coefficient are
depicted in the following.

Solution:

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Problem 3 (1) Discuss the (stick‐fixed) longitudinal static stability of Cessna Citation CJ3 in terms of its static
margin, and (2) determine the elevator size to trim the landing which requires CMcg|landing=0.86 at its maximum up‐
elevator deflection.
Properties of Cessna Citation CJ3
 Weight: 13,000 lbs
 Typical cruise speed: Mach 0.7 at 33,000 ft
 Wing:
1.46ft - Planform area: 570 ft2
- Span: 53.4 ft
- Airfoil:
 (2D) Lift slope: Cl=7.5917/rad
 Chord length: 8.2 ft (@ root) and 2.5 ft (@ tip)
- Lift coefficient at zero (geometric) AOA: 0.212
- Pitching moment coefficient at ac: -0.038
ac w - Aerodynamic center is at 25% of MAC.
23.9ft cg  Tail:
- Planform area: 140 ft2
- Span: 20.8 ft
MAC - Airfoil:
cw  (2D) Lift slope: Cl=2/rad
 Chord length: 4.7 ft (@ root) and 2 ft (@ tip)
- Initial setting angle w.r.t. the zero-lift line: 2°
- Tail efficiency is assumed to be unity.
Fuselage ac t - Elevator deflection: ‐25˚⦤δe⦤20˚
centerline MAC
ct

Solution:
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Problem 4 Evaluate the stick‐fixed longitudinal static stability of the General Aviation Airplane NAVION
below, and also determine how much more room for cg placement for longitudinal stability. What is the
proper elevator size to trim the airplane during landing if CMcg|landing=0.742 needs to be compensated by
the elevator control?
3.9ft Inertia and Aerodynamic Properties of NAVION

 W = 2,750 lbs
 Typical cruise speed: 240 ft/s at 5,000 ft
 Wing:
- Planform area: 184 ft2
MAC c w - Airfoil with the lift slope: Cl=5.5577/rad
- Lift coefficient at zero (geometric) AOA: 0.375
- Pitching moment coefficient at ac: -0.116
 Tail:
7.2ft - Planform area: 43 ft2
MAC - Aspect Ratio: 4.0
ct - Airfoil: NACA 0012 with Cl=5.7296/rad
ac wb Fuselage - Initial setting angle with respect to the wing zero-
cg centerline lift line: 1°
ac t - Tail efficiency is assumed to be unity.
33.4ft - Elevator deflection: ‐30˚⦤δe⦤20˚
1.425ft

1.682ft 16ft

S e / St

Solution:
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AE 364 FLGIHT DYNAMICS AND CONTROLS
Class Id #:
Midterm Exam 1 [Total 25 points]
01:20pm–02:30pm, Friday, 10/06/2017 Name:
In this exam, we
2.41
investigate the
34°
longitudinal static
stability of a
McDonnel Douglas
yw tan 34
DC‐8, whose `  cw
1.95
4
21.72
geometry and two
39°
typical flight ̅ yt tan 39 
ct
4
conditions are yw ` ̅ 7.3
provided on the right cg
acw yt act
and below.
13.1 10.67
4.76
21.48

38.47
Top view drawing of McDonnel Douglas DC-8 (Lengths in meter)

Two typical flight conditions for DC‐8 airplane

Weight Flight speed Altitude | °

Cruise (low altitude) 151m/s (Mach 0.443) 4.57 km 0.0768/deg 0.21

845.162kN
Landing approach 74m/s (Mach 0.218) 0 km 3370 Pa 0.0989/deg 0.92

PROBLEM 1 [5 points] For low‐altitude cruise, fill in all the blanks in the table below and show that 0.351.
MAC
(m) (m) (m2) (m) AR
̅ (m) (m)
Wing 10.67 2.41
Tail 4.76 1.95
(°) (deg) (1/rad) (1/deg) (m)
Others
1.0 3.2

PROBLEM 2 [6 points] This DC‐8 performs low‐altitude
cruise whose pitching moment coefficient curve can be
plotted as a function of and on the right. Discuss static
stability both in and and by the static margin. Note
that 0.032 for low‐altitude cruise. Note:
Graphical method would be an easier solution.

PROBLEM 3 [5 points] When the low‐altitude cruise of this
DC‐8 airplane is trimmed, show that the trim angle of attack
and elevator deflection angle are 4.93° and
3.71°, respectively. (Note: is given in the table.)
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PROBLEM 4 [6 points] The maximum lift coefficient of the DC‐8 wing airfoil during landing is 1.76, and elevator
can be deflected ‘‐25°’ to ‘+20°’. Assuming the neutral point does not change during the whole flight and can be
computed with the low‐altitude cruise conditions, show that the usable cg range of DC‐8 is 0.2218 0.519.

PROBLEM 5 [3 points] Show that the elevator size of this DC‐8 airplane is 11.27m2 (which is approximately 23%
of the tail planform area). Hint: Utilize the definition of elevator control power.

Summary of Equations

1. Properties of Air at Sea Level and 11km in Standard Atmosphere
T1=288 K; p1=1.012×105 Pa; ρ1=1.225 kg/m3; R=287 m2/(K·s2) (3)
5 3
T2=217 K; p2=0.2264×10 Pa; ρ2=0.3637 kg/m ;
2. Standard Atmosphere: Given the temperature profile ,
1.5736 10
(1) Gradient layer: / ; /  
(2) Isothermal layer: ; (2) 6.455 10 /
5.2953
3. Aerodynamic Coefficients and Derivatives ( )
; ; ; ; (1)
̅
4. Stick-fixed Longitudinal Static Stability
( is about cg, and absolute angle of attack for wing-body)

where and are Flap Effectiveness Parameter

the elevator control effectiveness and power, respectively.

 (Necessary) Stability Conditions: 0 and 0
 Static Margin ≝ where

or
/ or ̅ / ̅
5. Trimmed Flight Condition:

0
6. Airplane with Tapered Wings and Tails:
≝ ⇒ MAC: ̅ and ; ∙ ; AR ; ̅

| ° rad | ° ∙ deg ;
where
must be in [1/rad].

Corrected lift slope due to finite wing span: ∙ can be used as an approximate value

when its value is not provided from wind-tunnel tests.

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Solution
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