Longitudinal Control

Primary Aerodynamic Controls

Primary Aerodynamic Controls

A simple basic control system as

operated by a pilot
Longitudinal Control
• through pilot’s change of thrust (propulsion), and/or

• through change of configurations using aerodynamic

control surfaces

• Main aerodynamic surfaces for longitudinal control:

– on Tail:
• elevator
– on Wing:
• slats (leading-edge)
• flaps (trailing-edge)
• spoilers
• The pilot controls the flaps, either mechanically or by means of an
electrically, pneumatically or hydraulically powered system.
Control through Pilot
• To rotate any of the aerodynamic control surface, it is
necessary to apply a force to it to overcome the aerodynamic
pressures that resist the motion. This force may be supplied by
a human pilot through different ways:
– Mechanical Linkage Control
–Power Assisted Control: pilot’s control is connected to the
control surface and the control lever
–Power Operated Control: pilot’s control is connected to the
control lever ONLY
–Fly-by-wire: wire carries electrical signals from the pilot’s
control to replace mechanical linkage
– Fly-by-optical
Longitudinal Control
Factors affecting the design of a control surface are:
1) Control Effectiveness
2) Hinge moments
3) Aerodynamic and mass balancing

1) Control Effectiveness
• Is a measure of how effective the control deflection in producing the
desired control moment

• Function of the size of the elevator and tail volume ratio

Longitudinal Control
2) Hinge Moment
• The aerodynamic moment that must be overcome to rotate the control
surface
3) Aerodynamic and Mass balancing
• To have the control stick force within an acceptable range
Elevator Effectiveness
How to Change
Airplane Trim
Angle of Attack
Deflecting the elevator:
Change in Lift

Elevator Effect. Deriv.

Change in Pitching Moment

Elevator
power
control
In the case of linear lift and moment, we further have:
How to find
Fuselage mounted Cruciform

T-tail Flying tailplane

Elevator Effectiveness

Tail Lift Coefficient vs Tail Lift Coefficient vs

Tail Angle of Attack Elevator Deflection
Calculating Elevator Effectiveness
• The elevator effectiveness
– This is the slope of the graph

• From this we get

• Elevator control power

• Flap effectiveness parameter

Elevator Angle to Trim

 C L C Le   trim   C Ltrim 

C      
 m C me   trim   C m0 
 CLe Cm0  Cme CLtrim
 trim 

CL Cm0  Cm CLtrim
 trim  

  C L C me  C m C Le

 lt    xcg x NP 
 C L  C Le   C L   C Le
 c    c c 
 l t xcg x NP 
 C L C Le    
c c c 
ltN
 C L C Le
c
 C L C me
 ltN lt x cg x NP is the distance between the tail aerodynamic center
   and the basic neutral point
c c c c

 is independent of the vehicle C.G. location

 ve aft tail

  ve canard
Some conclusions
• with elevator angle to trim, the
slope of lift coefficient is
slower, less sensitive to
change of α, because
configuration change due to δe

• with elevator angle to trim, a

zero angle of attack α = 0 still
generates a lift, due to δe
VH set from the static longitudinal stability requirements
Variation of δ eTRIM with CLTRIM

• for a zero lift, there must

have a positive deflection
of δe for a given CG
(forward) position,
increasing lift requires less
δe deflection

• for a given trimmed lift, the

more CG forward (larger
static margin), the less
elevator angle deflection δe requires
Variation of δ eTRIM with the speed
• for a given CG (forward)
position, increase trim
XCG=XNP
speed requires more
elevator angle deflection

• for a given trim speed, the

more CG forward (larger
Trim speed
static margin), the less
elevator angle deflection
requires

No compressibility effects,
no propulsive effects
Flight Measurement of XNP
Elevator deflection to trim

Landing & take-off Higher speed

The lowest speed at which an airplane can maintain steady level flight
(constant altitude) is called the stall speed. In steady level flight, the
equation of motion normal to the flight path is given by
Elevator Hinge Moment

Only the shaded portion of the lift distribution in these figures acts
on the control surface and contributes to the hinge moment.
Elevator Hinge Moment
• The aerodynamic forces on any control surface produce a moment
about the hinge. The coefficient of elevator hinge moment:
Elevator, Tab and Their Hinge
Elevator Hinge Moment
• In practice, it is often satisfactory to assume Che is a linear function of
surface (wing or tail) angle of attack αt, angle of elevator δe, and angle of
tab δt :
• The derivativeC h characterizes the hinge moment created
by changes in angle of attack; it is called the floating
tendency, as the hinge moment generated by an increase in
angle of attack generally causes the control surface to float
upward.
• The derivative C he characterizes the hinge moment created
by a deflection of the control (considered positive trailing
edge down); it is called the restoring tendency, as the nose-
down hinge moment generated by a positive control
deflection tends to restore the control to its original position.
• Since elevator deflection corresponds to rotation
about a hinge line, the forces required to cause a
specific control deflection are related to the
aerodynamic moments about the hinge line. A free
control will float, in the static case, to the position
at which the elevator hinge moment is zero:
He = 0:
Elevator Free (Control stick released)
Stick-fixed condition is an ideal approximation. The opposite
extreme is also of interest: stick-free condition:

The elevator will float upward as the angle of attack is increased

Lift coefficient
for the tail
“elevator free”
Elevator Free (Control stick released)
Elevator Free (Control stick released)
Static Margin: distance between the neutral
point and the actual center of gravity
position
• Stick fixed static margin

• Stick free static margin

Desirable to have the stick fixed static margin within 5% of the mean-chord

Stick fixed or stick free static neutral points represent an aft limit on the center of gravity
travel for the airplane
Stick force

Gearing ratio: measure of the mechanical advantage provided by

the control

The work of displacing the control stick is equal to the work in moving
the control surface to the desired deflection angle
Pull force (negative) should always rotate the
nose upward, which causes the airplane to
slow down.
Push force (positive) will have the opposite
effect; that is, the nose will rotate downward
and the airplane will speed up.
Trim Tab
Trim tabs can be used by the pilot to trim the vehicle at zero control force
for any desired speed. Trim tabs are small control surfaces mounted at
the trailing edges of primary control surfaces. A linkage is provided that
allows the pilot to set the angle of the trim tab, relative to the primary
control surface, in a way that is independent of the deflection of the
primary control surface. Deflection of the trim tab creates a hinge
moment that causes the elevator to float at the angle desired for trim.
• Tabs are auxiliary control surfaces placed at the trailing edges of the
primary control surfaces. Tabs serve two purposes: (1) to balance and (2)
to trim. Balance tabs are set up to move opposite and proportional to the
primary control surface movement. They are used to assist the pilot in
moving the control surface and in reducing the amount of force that the
pilot needs to apply to the stick. If the pilot wishes, for example, to move
the elevator down, the balance tab will deflect upward as the elevator
deflects downward and the pressure distribution set up will create a
force, hence moment, to move the control surface down. Because they
are placed at the trailing edge, balance tabs possess long moment arms
and are very powerful in action.
• Trim tabs are used to reduce the force the pilot applies to the stick to
zero for particular chosen flight conditions. They are very important
since they ensure that the pilot will not tire in holding steady flight. Trim
tabs may be set when the airplane is on the ground or may be manually
operated and set by the pilot.
Stick Force Gradients
• Typical variation in control force as function of vehicle velocity
for stable configuration.

For airplane speed stability: Push: positive stick force.

Pull: negative stick force.
The stick force gradient describes how the stick force changes
as we move away from the trimmed flight speed.
The need for a negative stick force gradient can be appreciated by
examining the trim point in the previous Figure:
• If the airplane slows down, a positive (push) stick force occurs that
rotate the nose of the airplane downward, which causes the airplane to
increase its speed back toward the trim velocity.
• If the airplane exceeds the trim velocity, a negative (pull) stick force
causes the airplane’s nose to pitch up, which causes the airplane to
slow down.
• The negative stick force gradient provides the pilot and airplane with
speed stability.
• The larger the gradient, the more resistant the airplane will be to
disturbances in the flight speed.
• If an airplane did not have speed stability the pilot would have to
continuously monitor and control the airplane’s speed. This would be
highly undesirable from the pilot’s point of view.
Stick Force Gradients
• For a given static margin (or c.g. position) the control force
gradient decreases with increasing flight velocity; and

• At a given trim velocity, the gradient decreases as the c.g. is

moved toward the control-free neutral point.
Aerodynamic and mass balance
Another way to reduce the effort required by the pilot is
through mass balance, which is used to prevent flutter of the
surface that may occur due to accelerations of the airplane. It
is a dynamic effect, and a control surface that moves about on
its own may lead to dynamic instability of the airplane. The
solution is to move the control surface center of gravity near
or in front of the hinge line. This may be accomplished by
adding lead in front of the hinge line or by using small mass
balances
The purpose of an anti-balance tab is to: Ensure that the pilot’s
physical control load increases with increase of control surface
deflection.
 W  C L 0 QS
d 
QSC L
1 nautical mile = 1.85200 kilometers
1 nautical mile = 1.15078 mi = 6076.12 ft

The knot (pronounced not) is a unit of speed equal to

one nautical mile (1.852 km) per hour, approximately
1.151 mph
 X cg
itr  0.934  1.971
c
We can draw a region with three constraints.
X cg
• itr  0.934  1.971 c for steady-level flight.

• itr  0.26 deg for nose-up.

X cg
•  0.605 for stability
c
Forward and Aft Limits of C.G. Position:
The various control position and force gradients impose limits on the
acceptable range of travel of the vehicle center of gravity. These include
(for most vehicles):

• Rearward limits:
1. The vehicle must be statically stable; i.e., the c.g. must be ahead of the
basic and control free neutral points.
2. The sensitivity of vehicle velocity to control position must not be too
small; i.e., the c.g. must be sufficiently far ahead of the basic neutral
point.
3. The sensitivity of vehicle normal acceleration to control force must not
be too small; i.e., the c.g. must be sufficiently far ahead of the control
free neutral point.
• Forward limits:
1. The vehicle must be trimmable at CLmax; i.e., the c.g. must not be so far
forward that there is insufficient elevator power to trim the vehicle at
maximum lift coefficient.
2. The sensitivity of vehicle normal acceleration to control force must not
be too high; i.e., the c.g. must not be so far forward that excessive control
force is required to perform maneuvers for which the vehicle is intended.

The control free maneuver point is defined as the c.g. location for which the control force
gradient (per g) (or, equivalently, the hinge moment coefficient gradient) vanishes.