How Aircraft Maintain Stability in Flight

Hello all! This is my first long form video and it is related to static stability of aircraft!
If you liked this video, please subscribe for more! I am always working on more and more videos.
00:00 Static Stability in a Bowl
00:23 Axes of an Aircraft
00:40 Longitudinal Stability (Pitch Stability)
01:20 Weathercock Stability (Yaw Stability)
01:49 Lateral Stability (Roll Stability w/ Dihedral)

[@LouisConsta]

WOAH VERY REALISTIC BOWL!! THANKS!

[@giovannianimbono17]

amazing animations!!!! congrats

[@AerodynamicAnimations]

thank you for the support!

[@MrTshepoNgwenya]

Small correction: roll stability is actually achieved because the dihedral results in uneven vertical components the lift vector. Both wings have the same angle of attack, but the higher wing produces less vertical lift, while the lower wing produces more. This creates a moment that corrects the roll of the aircraft.

[@AerodynamicAnimations]

The wings do not have the same angle of attack with dihedral when disturbed.
When the aircraft rolls, it will also slip in that direction. This side slip results in the wings seeing different wind vectors, and therefore different angles of attacks. In a straight wing, they’d see the same wind vector.
It’s easier to see this if you consider angle of attack as the change in vertical velocity over the wind vector velocity. It clearly shows the higher wing would result in a decrease in angle of attack and the lower in a higher angle of attack.
The angle of attack difference results in the low wing producing more lift, and the high wing less lift. This is what causes the roll moment to return to wings level.

[@ArneChristianRosenfeldt]

Can we start from a hang glider? Straight wing with tail. Heavy pilot in a nacelle front / below. Now you apply your normal forces.

[@chiefzagwe1984]

Great work 👏🏽 keep it up

[@AerodynamicAnimations]

Thank you for your support!

[@leoarc1061]

Another design aspect which will help with yaw stability is wing sweep. The outboard wing or outboard section of the wing will produce more drag than the inboard section, thus helping the aircraft return to its stable mode.

[@AerodynamicAnimations]

Good point! It does help. I'll address this in a later video.

[@ArneChristianRosenfeldt]

Pilots claim that swept wings are hard to fly. Trainers have straight wing.

[@leoarc1061]

@@ArneChristianRosenfeldt We are talking about modest sweep angles. Angles like those of WWII aircraft for instance. You only need a few degrees for the outboard wing to produce more drag.
Plenty of trainer aircraft do have a mild sweep angle.

[@ArneChristianRosenfeldt]

@@leoarc1061 the lower the wing, the more dihedral. At some height even anhedral is used. No subsonic plane sweeps their wings. Flying wings do it because their tips act as tail. It actually worsens stability. Twin boom is the real solution to pusher props. But then again for aerobatic I like that in a flying wing the tail never passes through the wake of the wing. The wing tips of the Concorde are actually for stabilisation, not lift .

[@kadentstructuraldesign9929]

What did you use to produce the animations?

[@AerodynamicAnimations]

This animation is in blender, but other videos may include other software meant for more aerodynamic visuals like Ansys