Drag considerations for flight in atmospheric turbulence

The distribution of lift between the wing and tail surfaces of a conventional aircraft is examined in order to determine the combination that would produce the minimum drag for a given lift. Further, the center of gravity (CG) position which gives the desired lift distribution and at the same time, maintains aircraft trim is determined. Furthermore, a classic set of non-linear equations of motion for longitudinal flight is reduced to a set of linear equations by linearization. The location of the CG of the aircraft is then changed and a linear feedback control law is used to retain the dynamic characteristic (flying qualities) of the airplane. The response of the aircraft to an external disturbance such as a gust (modeled with a stochastic process) is studied in terms of drag versus CG position. Finally, it is shown that the position of the CG for minimum drag should be determined with consideration of the expected atmospheric turbulence.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Aerospace Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1989

Author dc:creator

• Charrier, Benoit

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/52080

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/52080