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Chapter 0

Procedures

0.0 Denitions
1. Angular acceleration: acceleration of an aircraft around some of its
 2 2 2 
d θ d φd ψ
axes. Expressed with the Euler angles: , ,
dt2 dt2 dt2
2. Inertial acceleration: acceleration of the CoG with respect to Earth-
d2 x d2 y d2 z
 
centered Axes. , ,
dt2 dt2 dt2
3. Point Performance: performance of an aircraft in a given point of its
trajectory, in which the steady ight is possible.

4. Trajectory Performance (or integral performance): performance


along a nite portion of the trajectory. It usually implies an integration
among some initial conditions and some nal conditions.

5. Engine setting: in a jet engine, δP expresses the proportion among the


current engine rpm and the maximum ones. It is equivalent to "Position
of the Throttle Lever" of the engine. The relation0 < δP < 1 is always
accomplished. If the engine admits post-combustion, it must be specied.

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Chapter 0. Procedures

6. Equivalent Rectangular Wing: rectangular wing that generates the


same lift and the same moments around the Xb and Yb axes.

7. Aspect Ratio: a dimensionless parameter that denotes the slenderness


b2
of a wing. The most usual denition is AR = A = w .
Sw

8. Range: the distance travelled by an aircraft during cruise ight at a


constant altitude.

9. Altitude: the height (z ) of the aircraft center of gravity above the mean
sea level. (There are other denitions of altitudes. By context, it will be
clear which of them we are referring to).

10. Damping: the oscillatory response of a second order linear system is


characterized by two constants. One of them is the damping.

11. Reference Angle of Attack: the angle of attack of the aircraft along
the dened reference trajectory.

12. Zero-lift Angle of Attack: angle of attack (αzero−lif t ) for which the
wing lift or the aircraft lift is zero.

13. Pitching Angle (θ): the angle that the Xb axis shapes with the plane
Xh − Y h. It is a geometrical angle and it would have a sense even if the
airplane had a null speed. It may be measured in ight and is part of the
parameters of the Flight Recorder. If the horizontal reference is known,
an appropriate picture of the aircraft would allow to obtain it.

14. Downwash Angle: the air that ows over a lifting wing is deviated a
certain angle. This angle is called "Downwash" when the deviation is
downwards, and "Upwash" when it is upwards. Its accurate calculation
is complicated, since it greatly depends on the wing geometry.

15. Elevator Angle by g : slope of the control deection vs load factor


∂δE ∆δE
   
curve. ≈
∂n ∆n
16. Lateral inclination Angle: the angle among the aircraft plane of sym-
metry and the Z Local Horizon (Vertical) during a horizontal turn.

17. Flight trajectory slope Angle: the angle among the Xw wind axis
and the XL Local Horizon axis. Also: angle among the velocity vector
and the horizontal. Normally represented by the greek letter γ. It is a

2
0.0 Denitions

"Dynamic" angle and it does not bear any sense if the velocity is zero. A
picture of an aircraft does NOT allow to know it.

18. Conventional Angle of Attack: the angle among the Xb body axis
and the Xw wind axis. Normally represented by the greek letter α. It is
an "Aerodynamic" angle and it does not bear any sense if the velocity is
zero. A picture of an aircraft does NOT allow to know it.

v
19. Sideslip Angle: β ≈ (v is the velocity according to the Yb axis).
V0
20. Thrust Angle: the angle (ε) among the thrust vector (T ) and the ve-
locity vector (V ). (Dierent denitions are possible).

21. Wetted area: external surface of an aircraft that is in contact with the
airstream.

22. Energy Climb Method: study of the ascending ight (climb stage) of
an aircraft using the specic energy as the integration variable. It is an
approximate mathematical procedure that simplies some calculations.
Initiated by german engineers in 1944, when studying the behavior of the
rst operating jet aircraft.

23. Standard Atmosphere: a model of the atmosphere based on the aero-


static equation, the perfect gas law, a given temperature distribution
with the altitude and some Standard conditions at sea level. There are
dierent simplications of the complete model that we will use often.

24. Autonomy: elapsed time during cruise ight at a constant altitude.

25. Ideal Subsonic Aircraft: a ctional model of subsonic jet. Character-


ized by:

(a) Specic Fuel Consumption independent from the speed and the thrust
lever position.

(b) Thrust independent from the speed.

26. Landing Run: part of the landing in which the aircraft goes from the
VT D ("Touch Down") speed to a null velocity.

27. Take-o Run: part of the take-o during which the aircraft accelerates
from a null velocity to the VLO ("Lift-O") speed. During the take-o
run, the whole landing gear is in touch with the runway.

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Chapter 0. Procedures

28. Aerodynamic Center: it is a point, over the reference line of an aerody-


namic airfoil, wing or aircraft, with respect to which the pitching moment
is independent from the angle of attack. It may be assumed that the total
lift generated by the aircraft due to the angle of attack is applied in this
point.

29. Airfoil Center of Pressure (2D): the intersection of the action line of
the aerodynamic force and the airfoil chord.

30. Center of Pressure: point where the resultant lift aerodynamic force
cuts a reference line of the aircraft. For an aerodynamic airfoil, the ref-
erence line is the chord.

31. Drag coefcient with zero-lift: it is the aerodynamic drag coecient


associated to a Parabolic Drag Polar when CL = 0.
32. Wave drag coefcient: the wave drag is the part of the drag caused
by the appearance of shockwaves over a wing. The shockwaves cause
the separation of the boundary layer and a substantial increase of the
aerodynamic drag.

33. Friction drag coefcient: it is the part of the aerodynamic drag co-
ecient generated by friction over the aircraft surface. It is also called
parasitic drag coecient.

34. Induced drag coefcient: it is the aerodynamic drag coecient due


2
to CL. Its usual expression is K(M ) CL . It is the aerodynamic drag
component generated by the ow due to the eddies that are detached
from the wingtip when the wing produces lift.

35. Running-in drag coefcient: ratio among the friction force and the
reaction force, assumed constant. It is dicult to quantify it.

36. Ideal lift coefcient: lift coecient of a wing that leads to the minimum
drag (it is dimensionless).

37. Volume coefcient of the Horizontal Empennage: ratio among


the "volume" of the horizontal empennage and the wing "volume". It
is a traditional dimensionless parameter, used often when studying the
St lt
aircraft trimming. Vt =
Sw cw
38. Trim conditions: in quasy-stead ight, it implies to establish the angle
of attack (αtrim ) and the angle of the stabilizer control surface (δE,trim )

4
0.0 Denitions

required to maintain a given ight condition. Usually, it also calls for the
value of δP,trim .
39. Time constant: the response of a rst order linear system is charac-
terized by a single parameter: the time constant λ. It intervenes in the
−λ t
shape of e .

40. Specic Fuel Consumption: ratio among the fuel mass ow rate and
the thrust. The mass ow rate may also be expressed in terms of weight.
(NOTE: the coherence of the units must be given attention to).

41. Corrected Specic Consumption: a dimensionless specic consump-


tion sometimes used to represent specic data of fuel consumption.

42. Flight qualities: a term that is related, among many other things, to
the force characteristics that need to be applied to the control lever of an
aircraft.

43. Wingtip chord: the chord in the tip of the wing (ct = ctip ).
44. Wing root chord: chord of the wing in the central reference line of the
fuselage (cr = croot ).
45. Mean Aerodynamic Chord: the chord of an Equivalent Rectangular
Wing. Parameter used to non-dimensionalize the Pitching Moment of a
wing. It is calculated as follows:

b/2
1
Z
mac = cw = c2 (y) dy
Sw −b/2
.

46. Density ρ(z): property of the atmosphere. Function of the altitude.


Measured in kg/m3 (S.I.).

47. Dimensionless Stability Derivatives: the disturbed aerodynamics is


linearized over the reference trajectory. This procedure requires deriva-
tives evaluated over the reference trajectory. These stability derivatives
are expressed in terms of coecients of forces and moments. These co-
ecients are purely numeric and there is no universally accepted criteria
to dene them. They must not be used if the way they have been dened
is unknown.

48. Dimensional Stability Derivatives: when the linearized equations are


written in their simplest shape, the coecients of the small disturbances

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Chapter 0. Procedures

may be comfortably written dimensionally. (If a mathematical robot is


used, it is usually not necessary to use dimensionless parameters).

49. Landing run distance: distance travelled by the aircraft when it is


already on the ground, during landing, with the landing gear completely
in touch with the oor.

50. Take-o run distance: distance travelled by the aircraft while it is in


touch with the ground during take-o, with the landing gear completely
in touch with the oor.

51. Landing transition distance: horizontal distance travelled by the air-


craft from h = 50 ft to h = 0, during landing, before touching the ground.
52. Take-o transition distance: horizontal distance travelled in the tran-
sition from h=0 until reaching h = 35 ft, already without contact with
the ground.

53. Distance: horizontal distance travelled along any trajectory.

54. Characteristic Equation: from the linear equations the system matrix
may be established. The determinant of that matrix equated to zero is
the characteristic equation of the system of linear equations. It is often
used in the stability analyses.

55. Weight Equation: it relates the aircraft weight variation to the engine
operating conditions (Thrust T and Specic Consumption Ce ). For a jet
aircraft:  
dm
≈ −Ce T
dt

56. Kinematic Equations: equations that are deduced from the denition
of the linear velocity. They relate the position of the CoG to the compo-
nents of its velocity. They are three equations that relate the three linear
velocity components {u, v , w} to the temporal derivatives of the three
dx dy dz
 
spatial coordinates , , .
dt dt dt
57. Euler Equations: Three equations that relate the three components of
the aircraft angular velocity {p, q, r} to the temporal derivatives of the
dψ dθ dφ
 
Euler angles that dene the aircraft attitude in the space , , .
dt dt dt

6
0.0 Denitions

58. Small Disturbances Equations: synonymous with Linearized Equa-


tions.

59. Dynamic Equations: the equations that appear from the denition of
inertial acceleration and the application of the Newton's second law. They
relate the aircraft linear and angular velocity to the forces and moments
acting on the aircraft. They are three equations for the forces, related to
the linear accelerations; and three equations for the moments, related to
the angular accelerations.

60. Linearized Equations: it is assumed that the disturbed trajectory


remains in the proximities of the undisturbed trajectory (small distur-
bances) and the equations of motion are developed as Taylor series with
the reference trajectory as a basis. Only the mathematical terms of rst
order are retained, so that the equations remain linear. Even though this
process is far from reality, these equations provide very useful information
for a wide range of aircraft maneuvers.

61. Ground Effect: when an aircraft is ying close to the ground (for in-
stance, when taking-o or landing), the airow cannot be deviated down-
wards by the wing as much as if the aircraft was far from the ground.
The practical result is that the lift increases and the induced drag is re-
duced while this proximity is kept. It is equivalent to an increase in the
wingspan. Its general mathematical modelling is complex.

62. Control efciency (of a 2D airfoil): ratio among the coecient of


zero-lift angle of attack and the control deection angle in the linear
equation of the lift coecient.

63. Control surface efciency: a mean value of the control eciency of


an aerodynamic airfoil on the wing.

CL
64. Aerodynamic Efciency: E = .
CD
65. Stability Body Axes: the Stability Axes are used for dynamic stability
and control studies. In a given moment the aircraft is disturbed, usually
from a steady ight situation. The Stability Axes are Wing Axes aligned
with the Wind Axes in that precise initial moment.

66. Oswald efciency factor (eOswald ): it is indicative of the dierence in


the aerodynamic drag induced by the real wing compared to the one in-
duced by a wing with an elliptical distribution. Its general mathematical

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Chapter 0. Procedures

deduction is not possible. Each particular wing has to be studied, or it


may be approximated by expressions obtained by statistical analysis.

CL2
CDinduced =
π ARw eOswald

67. Dimensionless thrust (τ ): ratio among the aircraft thrust (T ) and the

T EA
minimum thrust necessary for a given weight: τ=
W
68. Corrected thrust: a dimensionless thrust used sometimes to represent
the thrust data.

69. Thrust: is the concentrated force (T ) that acts on the aircraft due to
the pressure and velocity distribution at the engine inlet and the engine
outlet. In a propeller aircraft, the equivalent useful eect is also called
Thrust.

70. Specic Energy: addition of the gravitational potential energy and the
2
V
kinetic energy of an aircraft, divided by its weight: Es = +gh
2
71. Wingspan: distance from one wingtip to the other one (bw ).

72. Flight Envelope (or Flight Domain): the region of the (speed-altitude)
or the (Mach-altitude) plane in which the aircraft may steadily maintain
the horizontal balanced ight, taking into account all the aerodynamic
and propulsive limitations, for a given conguration.

73. Slenderness: for an aerodynamic shape, it is the length of the body


divided by the maximum equivalent diameter.

74. Thickness: relation among the maximum thickness of an airfoil and the
chord at that point of the span (it is a dimensionless parameter).

75. Statically Stable: an aircraft is said to be statically stable if, in the


event of any disturbance, forces and moments that tend to damp the
disturbance are automatically produced (without acting on the controls),
bringing the aircraft to the dynamic state previous to the disturbance.

76. Statically Unstable: an aircraft is said to be statically unstable if, in


the event of a disturbance, it automatically produces forces and moments
that tend to amplify the disturbance.

8
0.0 Denitions

77. Statically Neutral: an aircraft is said to be statically neutral if, in the


event of a disturbance, it does not produce any force or moment that
alters the disturbance.

78. Taper ratio: the dimensionless ratio among the chord at the wingtip
ctip
and the chord at the wing root. λ=
croot
79. Take-o transition stage: part of the take-o in which the aircraft
goes from h=0 to h = 35 ft.
80. Landing transition stage: part of the landing in which the aircraft
goes from h = 50 ft to the ground (h = 0).
81. Specic Power Excess: it is dened as the dierence among Thrust
Power (T ·V) and the Drag Power (D ·V) divided by the weight.

(T − D) V
SP E =
W

L
82. Load factor: ratio among the lift and the aircraft weight. n=
W
83. Distance factor: instantaneous increase in the distance travelled by unit
dx
of diminished weight. FD = −
dW
84. Induced drag factor: it is the term K of the Parabolic Drag Polar.
Below the critical Mach, it will be considered as independent from the
2
Mach number. CD = CD 0 + K CL

85. Time factor: instantaneous increase in the ight time by unit of dimin-
dt
ished weight. FT = −
dW
86. Horizontal Empennage Efciency Factor: ratio among the dynamic
pressure ahead of the horizontal empennage and the dynamic pressure
ahead of the wing (conventional conguration).

87. Slat: it is a leading edge mechanical device that allows the ow of high
energy air from the leading edge lower surface to the upper surface. This
delays the boundary layer separation, allowing the wing to adopt higher
angles of attack without stalling than the ones it would reach without the
device. It does not increase the lift by itself.

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Chapter 0. Procedures

88. Flap: it is a trailing edge mechanical device that allows the ow of high
energy from the trailing edge lower surface to the upper surface. This
reduces the boundary layer separation at high angles of attack and gen-
erates a substantial increase in the wing lift and drag.

89. Wing sweep (along the line that goes through a given fraction of the
wing chord): the angle among the line of a given fraction of the wing
chord with the Yb axis.

90. Wing planform: the S surface of an aircraft wing, extended from the
central line of the fuselage to the wingtips. Depending on the manufac-
turer, there are several ways of dening the part that falls within the
fuselage.

91. Natural frequency: the oscillatory response of a second order linear


system is characterized by two constants. One of them is the natural
frequency of the oscillation. It is related to the distance of a root to the
origin of coordinates.

92. Aerodynamic force: it is the concentrated force A that acts on the


aircraft due to the distributions of pressure and friction forces generated
by the air over the airplane surface.

93. Running-in reaction force: the force exerted by the ground on the
aircraft during take-o and landing, through the structure of the landing
gear.

94. Running-in friction force: the force exerted by the ground on the
aircraft during take-o and landing due to the friction of the wheels when
turning around their axes, with or without brakes applied.

95. Transfer function: ratio among the output and the input in the plane
of the Laplace Transform.

96. Coordinated turn: a turn that is carried out without adverse yaw
(β = 0). It means that the aircraft does not experience an acceleration
along the OY b axis.

97. Control lever force gradient: the derivative of the force on the lever
with respect to the ight speed.

98. Mathematical Degrees of Freedom of a system of equations: the


dierence among the number of Variables and the number of Equations:
DoF = V AR − EQ.

10
0.0 Denitions

99. Specic Power Plot: Plot of the altitude versus speed for given values
of Specic Energy Excess of an aircraft.

100. Adverse Yawing: the deection of the ailerons (δA ) used to generate
a rolling moment L, uses to generate a yawing moment N as well. The
sense of this moment is opposed to the one that is desired for the turn.

101. Wing incidence: geometrical angle among the plane of the wing chord
and the Xb body axis.

102. Horizontal empennage incidence: angle among the mean aerody-


namic chord of the horizontal empennage and the Xb axis. It may be a
xed or a variable angle.

103. Inverse-square gravitational law: the gravitational acceleration is


inversely proportional to the square of the distance to the center of the
Earth.

104. Camber line: mean line among the upper surface and the lower surface
of an aerodynamic airfoil (2D).

105. Balanced Field Length: it is the length of a runway in which, for an


aircraft that has lost an engine, the distance of braking/acceleration is the
same as the take-o distance. (NOTE: It is not a xed characteristic of a
given airport runway, but a characteristic length of a particular aircraft
with a given conguration, weight, thrust, atmospheric conditions, etc.).

106. Critical Mach number: Mach number for which there appear sonic
conditions (M = 1) somewhere on the wing surface (usually on the upper
surface).

107. Static Margin: it is the distance that the CoG is ahead of the Neutral
Point. It is often non-dimensionalized with some characteristic length
(usually, the mean aerodynamic chord).

108. Dynamic Model of the rigid aircraft of Six Degrees of Free-


dom: the mathematical model of the aircraft that includes both the
three equations for the forces (F = m a) and the three equations for the
moments (M = I Ω) for a rigid-body aircraft.

109. Spherical Earth Model: the Earth is considered as a solid sphere whose
gravitational acceleration obeys the inverse-square law with the distance.

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Chapter 0. Procedures

110. Flat Earth Model: the Earth is assumed at, with a uniform gravita-
tional eld normal to that plane. This model is often used in atmospheric
Flight Dynamics.

111. Long-Period Mode (also known as Phugoid Mode): the typical longi-
tudinal response of an aircraft to a disturbance consists of 2 modes: the
Phugoid mode is characterized by a low frequency and a low damping. It
is the rst oscillating Normal Mode of the aircraft that was mathemat-
ically studied. Detected by Zhukowsky in 1891, it was later studied by
Lanchester (1908), who called it "Phugoid Mode".

112. Dutch Roll Mode: the characteristic equation for the lateral-directional
motion of an aircraft usually has two real roots and two complex (conju-
gated) roots. These two complex roots lead to the Dutch Roll Mode. It
is an oscillating, stable motion, but with low damping.

113. Roll Subsidence Mode: the characteristic equation for the lateral-
directional motion of an aircraft usually has two real roots and two com-
plex (conjugated) roots. One of the real roots is the Roll Subsidence
Mode, usually stable.

114. Approximated Short-Period Mode: if it is assumed that the velocity


does not vary, the response of the aircraft is governed by a second order
dierential equation whose solution is the Approximated Short-Period
Mode.

115. Short-Period Mode: the the typical longitudinal response of an air-


craft to a disturbance consists of 2 modes: the Short-Period mode is
characterized by a high frequency and a high damping.

116. Spiral Divergence Mode: the characteristic equation for the lateral-
directional motion of an aircraft usually has two real roots and two com-
plex (conjugated) roots. One of the real roots is the Spiral Divergence
Mode, usually unstable. However, its evolution is slow, since it is small
in absolute value.

117. Approximated Phugoid Mode: if it is assumed that the angle of


attack does not vary, the response of the aircraft is governed by a second
order dierential equation whose solution is the Approximated Phugoid
Mode.

12
0.0 Denitions

118. Normal Modes: the response of a linear system consists of an overlap-


ping of movements, each of the with their own characteristics. Each of
these motions is called "normal mode".

119. Pitching Moment: the component of the moment that acts on the
aircraft according to the Yb axis.

120. Hinge Moment of a control surface: moment that produces the pressure
distribution on the control surface with respect to the hinge line of the
control surface.

121. Moments (and Products) of Inertia: inertia of an aircraft with re-


spect to some of its axes. The denitions are:
ZZZ
y 2 + z 2 ρ dx dy dz

Ixx =
ZZZV
x2 + z 2 ρ dx dy dz

Iyy =
ZZZV
x2 + y 2 ρ dx dy dz

Izz =
V

ZZZ
Ixy = Iyx = (x y) ρ dx dy dz
ZZZV
Ixz = Izx = (x z) ρ dx dy dz
ZZZV
Iyz = Izy = (y z) ρ dx dy dz
V

122. Direct Moment generated by the Thrust: it is the moment exclu-


sively due to the Thrust, without including the one generated by the
aerodynamic forces.

123. Moment generated by the Thrust: moments of the forces associated


to the production of thrust.

124. Longitudinal Motion: it takes place in the vertical plane (Xh − Zh).
As far as the Moments are concerned, it only includes the pitching one
(M ).

125. Lateral-Directional Motion: it is usually not kept in a plane. It


includes a combination of roll (φ) and yaw (ψ ).

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Chapter 0. Procedures

126. Drag Divergence Mach Number: it is the Mach number from which
the drag starts rising quickly due to the appearance of shockwaves. There
are several conventional denitions.

127. Mach Number: relation among the aircraft speed and the speed of
V V V
sound at the ight altitude. M = = p ≈ √ (T in
a(T ) γ Rg T 20 T
Kelvin)

128. Reynolds number: relation among the viscous and the inertial forces
ρ(z) V l
of a uid. Re =
µ(z)
129. Trajectories optimization: nding the speed prole that minimizes or
maximizes a given performance index. For instance, the distance travelled
in a ight or the climbing time. It demands to express the speed as a
function of the variable of interest in each case.

130. Climb slope: inclination of the trajectory with respect to the Horizontal
Reference Line (HRL) in a point of the ascending trajectory. Usually
represented by the letter γ, positive above the HRL.

131. Lift Curve Slope (CLα ): mathematical slope of the curve that expresses
CL as a function of α. A distinction must be made among 2D and 3D.
It depends on the wing geometry and the Mach number, as well as the
Reynolds number.

132. STALL: action of entering the loss of lifting capabilities of a wing or


airfoil. Situation generated when a wing is submitted to an angle of
attack that is too large. The stream is detached and the wing stops
providing lift. The aerodynamic drag increases.

133. Basic Symmetric Airfoil (2D): thickness distribution of the aerody-


namic airfoil (2D), without considering the camber (if it has camber).

134. Maximum Take-O Weight (MTOW): maximum weight of the air-


craft.

135. Weight: concentrated force (W ) that acts on the aircraft CoG due to
the distribution of the dierent aircraft masses.

136. Maximum suction peak: point on the airfoil chord where the pressure
is minimum.

14
0.0 Denitions

137. Symmetry plane: the vast majority of aircraft has a symmetry plane
among their left and their right sides. The symmetry plane is the Xb−Zb.
138. Drag Polar: the relation among the drag coecient and the lift coe-
cient: CL = CD(CL, M, Re).
139. Trimmed Drag Polar: the drag Polar that takes into account the pitch-
ing moment equation to include the drag generated by the needed deec-
tion of the elevator to trim the aircraft.

140. Parabolic Drag Polar: it is present when it may be assumed that the
mathematical expression for the aerodynamic drag is parabolic with CL:
CD(M ) = CD0 (M ) + K(M ) CL2
141. Inertial position: position of the aircraft CoG1 with respect to the
Earth-Centered Axes.

142. Pressure: property of the atmosphere. Function of the altitude. We will


usually measure it in N/m2 .
143. Stick-free Maneuver Point: the position of the CoG for which the
force to carry out on the control lever to achieve the maneuver through
one n−g pull is zero, in a reversible control system.

144. Stick-xed Maneuver Point: the position of the CoG in which the
required deection angle of the elevator to carry out the maneuver with
a n−g pull is zero, in a control system considered irreversible.

145. Neutral Point: it is a reference position with respect to which the


Pitching Moment Coecient is calculated, so that it is independent from
the angle of attack. It is also called Aerodynamic Center of the aircraft.
When the CoG is precisely placed in this point, the aircraft is Statically
Neutral. Usually, for a stable aircraft, the CoG will be placed ahead of
the NP. (The mathematical existence of the Neutral Point is conditioned
by the acceptance of linearity in the expressions of forces and moments
with respect to α).
146. Stick-Fixed Neutral Point: another name for the Neutral Point.

147. Stick-Free Neutral Point (SFNP): if an aircraft is trimmed at a


given speed and the pilot releases the stick, the Neutral Point is displaced
(usually towards the front) to a new position: the SFNP. (NOTE: this

1 In the Flight Mechanics that we will study, it may always be considered that the Center of
Masses coincides with the Center of Gravity (constant g)

15
Chapter 0. Procedures

only happens if the controls are reversible. The hydraulic servo actuators
are not reversible).

148. Turning Radius: the instantaneous radius of turn of the aircraft.

149. Aerodynamic Drag: it is dened as the component of the aerodynamic


force parallel to the velocity vector in the far eld.

150. Heading: φ is the angle of the velocity vector with the Xh axis.
151. Glide Slope: during the approximation for landing, the aircraft ap-
proaches the runway according to a trajectory whose inclination is ap-
◦ ◦
proximately γ ≈ −3 or γ ≈ −2 . This is the Glide Slope angle.

152. Glide Slope (ILS Device): an electronic device emits a signal that
must be followed by the aircraft during an instrumental landing. This
signal depicts a straight line whose slope in relation to the aircraft denes
the Glide Slope.

153. Body Axes System (O, Xb, Y b, Zb): a system of coordinates whose
origin is xed at the aircraft center of gravity (CoG) and whose axes
remain xed with respect to the aircraft, moving and turning with it.

154. Local Horizon Axes System (O, XL, Y L, ZL): a system of coordi-
nates whose origin is xed at the aircraft center of gravity (CoG) and
whose axes remain parallel to the Earth-Centered Axes while the aircraft
moves.

155. Earth-Centered Axes System (O, Xh, Y h, Zh): it is a coordinate sys-


tem xed to the Earth surface, at mean sea level (Zh(0) = 0). The
Xh − Zh plane is the one we choose to study the movement in a vertical
plane. For the usual movements of the aircraft, we will considered this
reference system to be inertial.

156. Wind Axes System (O, Xw, Y w, Zw): a coordinate system whose ori-
gin is xed at the aircraft center of gravity (CoG) and whose Xw axis
coincides with the direction of the velocity vector.

157. Lift: it is dened as the component of the aerodynamic force normal to


the far eld velocity vector.

158. Ceiling: the maximum altitude at which the aircraft can maintain the
steady levelled ight, for a given weight and with a given thrust. There
are several practical denitions for this characteristic value of an aircraft.

16
0.0 Denitions

159. Temperature: property of the atmosphere, T (z). Function of the alti-


tude. Measured in K.
160. Reference Trajectory: the trajectory that follows an aircraft during
steady ight.

161. Disturbed Trajectory: the one followed by an aircraft after being dis-
turbed from its reference trajectory.

162. Trim Tab: small ap at the trailing edge of a control surface. When it
is deected, it forces the control surface to acquire and maintain a given
angle.

163. Control Variables: in the equations of motion, the variables that do


not appear in the mathematical shape of "derivative with respect to the
time".

164. State Variables: in the equations of motion, the variables that are
submitted to the mathematical procedure of dierentiating.

Equivalent Speed: Ve =
p
165. σ(z) Vaero .
166. Aerodynamic Speed (Vaero ): it is the speed of the aircraft with respect
to the atmosphere. If the atmosphere is at rest with respect to the ground,
it is also equal to the speed with respect to the Earth-Centered Axes.

167. Non-dimensional Speed (u): ratio among the aircraft speed (V ) and

a characteristic speed -the minimum drag speed (V )- for a given altitude
and weight.
v s
u
V u2 W K
u= with V∗ =
t
V∗ ρ S CD0

168. Angular Turning Speed in the horizontal plane: temporal derivative



of the Heading:
dt
dz
169. Climb Speed: Vz = in a point of the trajectory.
dt
170. Touch Down Speed: the lower speed at which an aircraft may safely
take ground. There are several ways of dening it. We usually use the
following one: V T D = 1.2Vstall .

17
Chapter 0. Procedures

171. Decision Speed: it is the maximum speed, during the take-o run, at
which it is possible to brake the aircraft, spending the available runway.

172. Lift-o Speed: speed at which the aircraft leaves the ground during
take-o (VLO ).

173. Corner Speed: speed at which the maximum lift coecient curve cuts
the maximum load factor curve. It appears when studying the aircraft
Turns.

174. Corrected engine speed: a dimensionless value of speed (rpm) of an


engine, used to represent data of engine speed.

175. Stall Speed: the lower speed at which an aircraft may maintain levelled
and steady horizontal ight.

176. Rotation Speed: during take-o, it is the speed at which it is reasonably


safe for the pilot to proceed to rotate the aircraft so that it adopts the
adequate angle of attack. There are several denitions.

177. Satellite Speed: speed of a satellite with respect to the Earth surface.

178. Indicated Airspeed: equivalent speed corrupted with the instrument


and position errors.

179. Inertial Speed: CoG speed with respect to the Earth-Centered Axes.
180. True Airspeed (or Aerodynamic Speed): aircraft speed with respect
to the atmosphere.

181. Viscosity: property of the atmosphere, µ(T ). Function of the tempera-


ture. Sutherland equation:

1.458 × 10−6 T (z)1.5


µ(z) = (kg/ms), T in K
110.4 + T (z)

182. Quasi-steady Flight in a Vertical Plane: it is dened by the following


simplifying hypotheses:

dV dγ
(a) Negligible accelerations: ≈ 0, ≈0
dt dt
(b) Small angle of trajectory slope.

(c) Small angle ε of the thrust with respect to the Xb axis.

18
0.0 Denitions

(d) Insignicant component of the thrust normal to the velocity: T sin α ≈


0.

19

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