The Effect of Mass Distribution on the Lateral Stability and Control Characteristics of an Airplane as Determined by Tests of a Model in the Free-Flight Tunnel

Abstract

Rolling and yawing moments of inertia increased from normal values to values up to five times normal. For each moment-of-inertia condition, combinations of dihedral and vertical-tail area representing various airplane configurations were tested. Results were correlated with calculated stability and control characteristics, and good agreement was obtained. Flight performance of model became poorer with increasing moments of inertia; but with combination of small effective dihedral and large vertical-tail area, satisfactory flight characteristics were obtained.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1943
Accession Number
ADA800861

Entities

People

  • Charles L. Seacord Jr.
  • John P. Campbell

Organizations

  • Langley Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aeronautical Laboratories
  • Aeronautics
  • Agreements
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Airplanes
  • Amplitude
  • Boundaries
  • Equations
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Flight
  • Free Flight
  • Fuel Tanks
  • Mass
  • Moment Of Inertia
  • Oscillation
  • Wind Tunnels

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Control Systems Engineering.