EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY

Daytona Beach Campus

AE 506: Airplane Dynamic Stability
Spring 2017 : Section 1
Credit hours: 3 Office Hours: by appointment
Lecture hours: 3 Office location/phone: EFRC / 226-6917 & 226-2935
Laboratory hours: 0 Graduate Teaching Assistant: Vinod Gehlot
Meeting times/room: F 10 AM - 1:30 / LB 333 & GS Office location/phone: TBD
Instructor: Richard "Pat" Anderson Office Hours: TBD
e-mail: andersop@erau.edu TA e-mail: gehlotv@my.erau.edu

2016-2017 Catalog Description:

Small-disturbance theory and linearized solutions of the general equations of motions. Aerodynamic derivatives, derivative
analysis, aerodynamic transfer functions. Dynamic stability of uncontrolled longitudinal and lateral motions. Computer
solutions of dynamic stability problems. Inverse problems.

Prerequisites: EE 335, MA 345

Goal:

This course is designed to give the student a physical and theoretical understanding of the handling characteristics of an
airplane and to provide the knowledge base required to integrate stability and control into the airplane design process.

Textbook/Reference Book1:

Nelson, Robert C., Flight Stability and Automatic Control, 2nd ed., McGraw Hill, Boston, 1998. ISBN 0-07046273-9.

Suggested Supplementary Materials

1. Stevens, Brian L., Lewis, Frank L., Aircraft Control and Simulation, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, New
York, 1992. ISBN 0-471-61397-5.
2. Klein, Vladislav, Morelli, Eugene, Aircraft System Identification: Theory and Practice, AIAA, Reston, Verginia,
2006, ISBN 1-56347-832-3.
3. Bishop, Robert H., Dorf, Richard C., Modern Control Systems, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading,
Massachusetts, 1995. ISBN 0-201-84559-8
4. Pamadi, Bandu N., Performance, Stability, Dynamics and control of Airplanes, 2 nd ed., AIAA, Reston, Virginia,
2004. ISBN 1-56347-583-9
5. McCormick, Barns, W., Aerodynamics, Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1979.
6. Etkin and Reid, Dynamics of Flight: Stability and Control, Wiley, 1996.
7. USAF Test Pilot School Flight Test Handbook: Flying Qualities: Theory and Flight Test Techniques, FTC-TIH-79-2,
1979.
8. Naval Test Pilot School Flight Test Manual, Fixed Wing Stability and Control: Theory and Flight Test Techniques,
USNTPS-FTM-103, 1977.
9. USAF Flight Test Engineering Handbook, USAF-TR-6273, 1966.
10. C. D. Perkins and R.E. Hage, Airplane Performance, Stability and Control, Wiley, 1949.

1
Nelson is the primary textbook for the undergraduate course and is used only as a reference book in the graduate course.
Undergraduate knowledge of this textbook is a prerequisite for this course.
Required Materials:

1. A scientific calculator with trigonometry functions and power functions. An HP48 is strongly recommended by not
required.
2. A straight edge with a graduated measure.
3. A model airplane

Prerequisite Knowledge by Topic:

1. Rigid body dynamics.

2. Fluid dynamics.
3. Incompressible and compressible aerodynamics.
4. Airplane performance.
5. Differential equations.
6. Aerodynamics.
7. Stability and control of aircraft.
8. Stability theory and analysis.
9. Working knowledge of Matlab and Simulink.

Grading:

Homework and quizzes 10%

Test (2) 15% each
Projects 60%

Class Polices:

1. Homework grades will be based upon effort and the solutions will be published or worked out in class.
2. Missed mid-terms cannot be made up. An average of the final exam and other mid-term will be used in place of the
missed exam.
3. Attendance in required. Missing more than three classes may result in removal from the class.
4. Late arrival at class is unacceptable. Students arriving late WILL be marked absent and may not be allowed to enter
the class.
5. Unannounced quizzes may be part of the homework grade. Missed quizzes will result in a grade of zero and may not
be retaken.
6. Group projects and group homeworks will have an associated peer evaluation. This evaluation will be
MULTIPLIED by the instructor’s grade to determine the overall grade.
7. Failure to turn in any lab or project will result in an incomplete for the course.

UNIVERSITY POLICY FOR ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is committed to intellectual integrity and considers academic dishonesty a serious
offense. Such offenses include cheating (accepting unauthorized assistance in preparing assignments), fraud (gaining unfair
advantage through deceit, trickery or falsification of records), or plagiarism (taking of the ideas, writings, words and/or work
of another and representing them as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgment). A student who cheats, commits any
form of academic fraud or plagiarizes in this course may receive an F for the course. In addition, the incident will be reported
to the Dean of Students. If any other academic integrity violations have been documented, the student will be recommended
for dismissal.