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Relaxed stability

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wings. In most cases they did not include any means for a pilot to control the aircraft roll—they could control only the elevator and rudder. The unpredicted effect of this was that it was very hard to turn the aircraft without rolling. They were also strongly affected by side gusts and side winds
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Early attempts at heavier-than-air flight were marked by a differing concept of stability from that used today. Most aeronautical investigators regarded flight as if it were not so different from surface locomotion, except the surface was elevated. They thought of changing direction in terms of a
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A less stable aircraft requires smaller control deflections to initiate maneuvering; consequently, drag and control surface imposed stresses will be reduced and aircraft responsiveness will be enhanced. Since these characteristics will typically make control by the pilot difficult or impossible,
233:" or "lean" into the turn just like a bird or just like a person riding a bicycle. Equally important, this method would enable recovery when the wind tilted the machine to one side. Although used in 1903, it would not become widely known in Europe until August 1908, when 164:
is an example of a stable aircraft. Similarly, an aircraft with neutral stability will not return to its original attitude without control input, but will continue to roll or pitch at a steady (neither increasing nor decreasing) rate.
315:) was introduced to compensate for the MD-11's rather short horizontal stabilizer and ensure that the aircraft would remain stable. However, there have been incidents in which the MD-11's relaxed stability caused an "inflight upset". 178:, so the flying machine would remain essentially level in the air, as did an automobile or a ship at the surface. The idea of deliberately leaning, or rolling, to one side either seemed undesirable or did not enter their thinking. 151:
This can be contrasted with the behaviour of an aircraft with positive stability, which can be trimmed to fly at a certain attitude, which it will continue to maintain in the absence of control input, and, if perturbed, will
339:. Greater stability leads to lesser control surface authority; therefore, a less stable design will have a faster response to control inputs. This is highly sought after in fighter aircraft design. 229:(drooping) wings, which are inherently unstable. They showed that a pilot can maintain control of lateral roll and it was a good way for a flying machine to turn—to " 300:
and enable it to penetrate air defenses with relative impunity. However, the flat facets of the design reduce its stability to the point where a computerized
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on a decreasing scale around, and eventually return to, the trimmed attitude. A positively stable aircraft will also resist any bank movement. A
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has a neutral stability design which was implemented to save fuel. To ensure stability for safe flight, an LSAS (Longitudinal
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An aircraft with a "high" wing position (i.e., set on top of the fuselage) has a higher roll stability. For example, the
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Nguyen, L. T.; Ogburn, M. E.; Gilbert, W. P.; Kibler, K. S.; Brown, P. W.; Deal, P. L. (1 December 1979).
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Nighthawk, for instance, employs a highly non-traditional fuselage and wing shape in order to reduce its
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artificial stability will typically be imposed using computers, servos, and sensors as parts of a
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An aircraft with a "low" wing (i.e., underneath the fuselage) has less roll stability. The
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Airplane stability and control: a history of the technologies that made aviation possible
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Many modern fighter aircraft often employ design elements that reduce stability to
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The vertical positioning of the wing changes the roll stability of an aircraft.
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Eccentric France: the Bradt guide to mad, magical and marvellous France
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An aircraft with negative stability will have a tendency to change its
289:") designs, often exhibit instability as a result of their shape. The 201:) position after any disturbance. They achieved this with the help of 656:
To Conquer The Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight
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angles spontaneously. An aircraft with negative stability cannot be
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of elevator, rudder and roll control for making effective turns.
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Relaxed stability designs are not limited to military jets. The
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Modern military aircraft, particularly low observable ("
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demonstrated to European aviators the importance of the
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structure, including the vertical panels) and strongly
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The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright
481:. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. pp. 39–53. 49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 531: 506: 412:Wilhelm, Knut; Schafranek, Dieter (October 1986). 411: 674: 626: 549: 181:Some of these early investigators, including 550:Abzug, Malcolm; Larrabee, E. Eugene (2002). 318: 478:Contact!: the story of the early aviators 244: 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 322: 272: 606: 504: 474: 16:Aircraft with low or negative stability 675: 632: 457: 405: 653: 570: 537: 378: 331:is an intentionally unstable design. 268: 47:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 500: 498: 470: 468: 466: 281:is not an inherently stable design. 13: 658:. New York: Simon & Schuster. 543: 376: 304:system is required for it to fly. 14: 694: 168: 639:. New York: WW Norton & Co. 607:Pasztor, Andy (March 24, 2009). 495: 463: 23: 475:Villard, Henry Serrano (2002). 34:needs additional citations for 609:"FedEx Jet Has Control Issues" 600: 125:, an aircraft is said to have 1: 313:Stability Augmentation System 627:General and cited references 372: 7: 391:NASA Technical Publications 350: 10: 699: 357:Index of aviation articles 129:if it has low or negative 337:increase maneuverability 279:Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk 223:1903 first powered Flyer 505:Letcher, Piers (2003). 362:Dual control (aviation) 319:Intentional instability 309:McDonnell Douglas MD-11 203:Hargrave cellular wings 633:Crouch, Tom D (2003). 393:(19800005879). NASA: 1 332: 282: 245:Vertical wing position 158:simple harmonic motion 144:to maintain a certain 654:Tobin, James (2004). 326: 276: 329:F-16 Fighting Falcon 43:improve this article 460:, pp. 167–168. 418:Journal of Aircraft 298:radar cross section 58:"Relaxed stability" 333: 283: 264:uses a "low" wing. 665:978-0-7432-5536-3 646:978-0-393-30695-8 563:978-0-521-80992-4 524:978-1-84162-068-8 488:978-0-486-42327-2 269:Unstable aircraft 127:relaxed stability 119: 118: 111: 93: 690: 669: 650: 621: 620: 618: 616: 604: 598: 597: 595: 593: 574: 568: 567: 547: 541: 535: 529: 528: 512: 502: 493: 492: 472: 461: 455: 449: 448: 446: 444: 409: 403: 402: 400: 398: 382: 347:control system. 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 698: 697: 693: 692: 691: 689: 688: 687: 673: 672: 666: 647: 629: 624: 614: 612: 605: 601: 591: 589: 576: 575: 571: 564: 548: 544: 536: 532: 525: 503: 496: 489: 473: 464: 456: 452: 442: 440: 430:10.2514/3.45377 424:(10): 756–762. 410: 406: 396: 394: 383: 379: 375: 353: 321: 271: 247: 239:coordinated use 221:designed their 219:Wright brothers 195:Voisin brothers 171: 115: 104: 98: 95: 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 696: 686: 685: 671: 670: 664: 651: 645: 628: 625: 623: 622: 599: 569: 562: 542: 530: 523: 494: 487: 462: 450: 404: 374: 371: 370: 369: 364: 359: 352: 349: 320: 317: 270: 267: 266: 265: 258: 246: 243: 214:upon landing. 205:(wings with a 170: 169:Early aircraft 167: 138:pitch and bank 117: 116: 31: 29: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 695: 684: 681: 680: 678: 667: 661: 657: 652: 648: 642: 638: 637: 631: 630: 610: 603: 587: 583: 582:Aero Magazine 579: 573: 565: 559: 555: 554: 546: 540:, p. 70. 539: 534: 526: 520: 516: 511: 510: 501: 499: 490: 484: 480: 479: 471: 469: 467: 459: 454: 439: 435: 431: 427: 423: 419: 415: 408: 392: 388: 381: 377: 368: 365: 363: 360: 358: 355: 354: 348: 346: 340: 338: 330: 325: 316: 314: 310: 305: 303: 299: 295: 292: 288: 280: 275: 263: 259: 256: 252: 251: 250: 242: 240: 236: 235:Wilbur Wright 232: 228: 224: 220: 215: 212: 208: 204: 200: 196: 192: 191:Santos-Dumont 188: 184: 179: 177: 166: 163: 159: 155: 149: 147: 143: 139: 134: 132: 128: 124: 113: 110: 102: 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 683:Aerodynamics 655: 635: 613:. Retrieved 602: 590:. Retrieved 585: 581: 572: 552: 545: 533: 508: 477: 453: 441:. Retrieved 421: 417: 407: 395:. Retrieved 390: 380: 341: 334: 306: 284: 262:Piper Pawnee 248: 216: 189:, and later 180: 172: 150: 135: 126: 120: 105: 96: 86: 79: 72: 65: 53: 41:Please help 36:verification 33: 588:(2). Boeing 458:Crouch 2003 345:fly-by-wire 302:fly-by-wire 538:Tobin 2004 255:Cessna 152 162:Cessna 152 69:newspapers 615:1 October 438:0021-8669 373:Citations 367:Trim drag 154:oscillate 131:stability 99:June 2009 677:Category 351:See also 291:Lockheed 227:anhedral 211:dihedral 207:box kite 193:and the 146:attitude 123:aviation 592:29 June 287:stealth 199:lateral 187:Chanute 183:Langley 174:ship's 142:trimmed 83:scholar 662:  643:  560:  521:  485:  443:6 July 436:  397:6 July 176:rudder 85:  78:  71:  64:  56:  611:. WSJ 517:–39. 294:F-117 225:with 90:JSTOR 76:books 660:ISBN 641:ISBN 617:2015 594:2022 558:ISBN 519:ISBN 483:ISBN 445:2022 434:ISSN 399:2022 327:The 277:The 231:bank 217:The 62:news 426:doi 156:in 121:In 45:by 679:: 584:. 580:. 515:38 497:^ 465:^ 432:. 422:23 420:. 416:. 389:. 185:, 133:. 668:. 649:. 619:. 596:. 586:1 566:. 527:. 491:. 447:. 428:: 401:. 257:. 112:) 106:( 101:) 97:( 87:· 80:· 73:· 66:· 39:.

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"Relaxed stability"
news
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scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message
aviation
stability
pitch and bank
trimmed
attitude
oscillate
simple harmonic motion
Cessna 152
rudder
Langley
Chanute
Santos-Dumont
Voisin brothers
lateral
Hargrave cellular wings
box kite
dihedral
Wright brothers
1903 first powered Flyer

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