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Aircraft maneuverability: how to does it work ?

70.9k BognaBoganTheMan  6.6 years ago

It might seems weird but after 1.7 years of Simpleplanes I still don't nkow how it work
putting the center of lift behind the center of mass isn't the only thing


Beacaus I am making 2 very different kinds of aircraft in the the same time, a flying boat and a modern jet fighter I would like to nkow how to make the behave like they should be so

how does it work ?

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    26.9k Sunnyskies

    Stability is the biggest factor.
    the more stable an aircraft is, the less maneuverable it will be as a result.
    Consider airliners and fighter jets.
    Airliners have a lot of stability, and as a result, they aren't very agile.
    Fighter jets on the other hand are incredibly unstable. Some to the point where they need constant computer correction to keep them controllable. this instability allows the plane to perform extremely tight maneuvers.
    So for something agile, get that CoM as close to the CoL you can get it without losing control, and for something you want more stable, but less maneuverable, increase the distance between the points.
    Adjusting the angle of incidence on the tail surfaces can also help get the perfect pitching force for balancing an aircraft's nosing tendencies. As for pitch speed, think of ways the exert more force on the arm to give yourself a greater moment. Spacing and strength of the pitching surfaces is important. If you need more force, consider thrust vectoring as well. It's the key to supermaneuverability.


    @F104Deathtrap You can also counter some of the forward-pitching moment by angling the engines upward slightly. You lose some cruise efficiency and top-speed, but improve low-speed handling and takeoff run.

    +3 6.6 years ago
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    @Zandgard Just a warning about flying boats: they have a high center of thrust (to keep the engines away from the water) and that makes them nose-heavy. With the engines up so high, they pull the top forward and the nose down.

    To fight that, you need big strong elevators. But it won't fly level unless you also angle the horizontal tail leading edge downward 2 or 3 degress. That way the tail is always pulling the nose up a little bit just like the engines are always pulling down. You'll have to trial and error it a bit to get the feel right but it's totally fixable.

    +2 6.6 years ago
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    @PilotOfFuture @F104Deathtrap thanks you so much for once I got the feeling to knowing what I was doing

    +2 6.6 years ago
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    Usually, an airplane only "turns" in one direction: up. Pitch-up actually, the plane can also pitch down but usually that's much much slower. The whole body of the plane is designed to give it lift, and you take advantage of that to pitch up, you have to fight it to pitch down.

    So when a plane can hold a tight turn, what that really means is that it can pitch up very sharply and hold it.

    Imagine a plane hanging from a rope tied around the wings. That rope is the center of lift, it holds up the plane. Lift works a lot like friction, it transforms speed into an upward pulling force, but it also slows the plane down. You want the mass of the plane, the heaviest part, in front of that friction because as soon as you start moving that weight is going to try to push its way to the front.

    The further forward you put the center of mass, the more stable the plane will be, but the heavier the nose gets, the harder it is to pull up. A stable plane with a heavy nose can barely turn at all, and it won't want to pitch up very much at all. So for the sake of maneuverability, keep the mass ahead of the center of lift, but not too far.

    6.6 years ago
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    30.4k soundwave

    OOH IS THAT A YF-23?

    +1 6.6 years ago
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    as the col moves closer to the com, the airplane becomes more maneuverable.
    less ft/lbs (wheigt per wingsurface) increases both maneuverability and stability.
    theres an odd thing in simplePlanes, when you use a control surface the effect it creates in calculated for the middle of the wing, meaning that if the middle of the wing is on or on front of the COM, the pitch has hardly any effect or is inverted.
    the last thing are the engines. the COT should be in the same level as the COM, else your plane will try to push up- or downwards.

    your projects look really cool btw

    6.6 years ago
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    32.3k CRJ900Pilot

    Idk sorry. The planes look great though

    6.6 years ago