An investigation of the maneuvering tail load requirements was conducted using a Lockheed Constitution airplane. The forces exerted by the pilot, the control motions, and the airplane response were analyzed for a series of maneuvers. The motion of the airplane in its plane of symmetry as calculated using aerodynamic parameters from wind tunnel tests and the measured elevator motion agreed closely with the measured airplane motion. Analysis showed that some terms in the equations of motion which may be neglected for the case of small airplanes should be considered when treating large airplanes. For rapid maneuvers the time lag between a control motion and the resulting airplane response was more noticeable than for smaller airplanes. This lag required anticipatory motions and forces on the part of the pilot and caused 'overshoot' in striving for a particular flight condition. Pilots were inclined to allow the controls to return to neutral at a higher rate than obtained in the initial deflection, producing tail loads of which they had no physical awareness. The maximum negative angular accelerations in pitch were of the same magnitude as the maximum positive accelerations. Comparison was made with various methods of estimating this quantity. The rolling pull-out was found to be a particularly severe maneuver and the comments of the pilots indicate that it may occur in practice. Structural deflections of the fuselage, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer were found to be of moderate importance.


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    Title :

    Flight Investigation of Some Factors Affecting the Critical Tail Loads on Large Airplanes


    Contributors:
    H. H. Brown (author)

    Publication date :

    1951


    Size :

    119 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English






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