Flight dynamics
From Free net encyclopedia
Flight dynamics is the study of orientation of air and space vehicles and how to control the critical flight parameters, typically named pitch, roll and yaw.
Pitch is rotation around the lateral or transverse axis. This axis is parallel to the wings, thus the nose and tail both pitch up or down.
An aircraft pitches up to climb and pitches down to dive. An aircraft increases or decreases the lift generated by the wings when it pitches up or down by increasing or decreasing the angle of attack (AOA) through the lateral axis.
Roll is rotation around the longitudinal axis—an axis drawn through the body of the vehicle from tail to nose. This is also known as bank.
Yaw is rotation about the normal axis—an axis perpendicular to the pitch and roll axes. If an airplane model placed on a flat surface is spun or pivoted around the center of mass (coordinate origin) it would be described as yawing.
Aerospace engineers develop control laws and control systems to allow pilots to control their aircraft in the three dimensions described above. The control systems exert forces in various directions, which generate moments about the aerodynamic center of the aircraft, and thus rotate the aircraft in pitch, roll, or yaw. For example, a pitching moment is a vertical force applied at a distance forward or aft from the aerodynamic center of the aircraft, causing the aircraft to pitch up or down.
See also
- Wright Glider of 1902 (The first human invention to include all three, at once)
- Aeronautics
- Aircraft attitude
- Attitude control
- Pitching moment
- Euler angles
- Tait-Bryan angles
- Aircraft flight mechanics
- Rotation matrixTemplate:Aviation-stub
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