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Longitudinal Stability Longitudinal stability for an airplane involves the tendency for the nose to pitch up or pitch down, rotating around the lateral axis (wingtip to wingtip). If an airplane is longitudinally stable, it will return to a properly trimmed angle of attack after the force that upset its flightpath is removed. The weight and balance of an airplane, which is based on both the design characteristics of the airplane and the way it is loaded, is a major factor in determining longitudinal stability. There is a point on the wing of an airplane, called the center of pressure or center of lift, where all the lifting forces concentrate. In flight, the airplane acts like it is being lifted from or supported by this point. This center of lift runs from wingtip to wingtip. There is also a point on the airplane, called the center of gravity, where the mass or weight of the airplane is concentrated. For an airplane to have good longitudinal stability, the center of gravity is typically located forward of the center of lift. This gives the airplane a nose-down pitching tendency, which is balanced out by the force generated at the horizontal stabilizer and elevator. The center of gravity has limits within which it must fall. If it is too far forward, the forces at the tail might not be able to compensate and it may not be possible to keep the nose of the airplane from pitching down. In Figure 3-62, the center of lift, center of gravity, and center of gravity limits are shown. It can be seen that the center of gravity is not only forward of the center of lift, it is also forward of the center of gravity limit. At the back of the airplane, the elevator trailing edge is deflected upward to create a downward force on the tail, to try and keep the nose of the airplane up. This airplane would be highly unstable longitudinally, especially at low speed when trying to land. It is especially dangerous if the center of gravity is behind the aft limit. The airplane will now have a tendency to pitch nose up, which can lead to the wing stalling and possible loss of control of the airplane.
Lateral Stability Lateral stability of an airplane takes place around the longitudinal axis, which is from the airplane’s nose to its tail. If one wing is lower than the other, good lateral stability will tend to bring the wings back to a level flight attitude. One design characteristic that tends to give an airplane good lateral stability is called dihedral. Dihedral is an upward angle for the wings with respect to the horizontal, and it is usually just a few degrees. Imagine a low wing airplane with a few degrees of dihedral experiencing a disruption of its flightpath such that the left wing drops. When the left wing drops, this will cause the airplane to experience a sideslip toward the low wing. The sideslip causes the low wing to experience a higher angle of attack, which increases its lift and raises it back to a level flight attitude. The dihedral on a wing is shown in Figure 3-63.
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