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Old 01-26-2003 | 01:55 AM
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Ben Lanterman's Avatar
Ben Lanterman
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From: St. Charles, MO
Default self righting aerodynamics

Tatoo -

It is fairly easy. There is a aerodynamic term - Clbeta - defined as rolling moment due to airplane sideslip or mathematically is rolling moment / sideslip angle. Clbeta is the provider of the responses you have listed.

Clbeta basically gets bigger as dihedral gets bigger. Clbeta is higher on a cabin airplane than on a low wing airplane.

beta, the sideslip angle, gets big when the fuselage yaws and this is caused by
1. sideslip caused by rudder application or
2. sideslip that happens when the wing is upset from a stabilized condition.

So apply rudder and the high dihedral wing causes a high rolling moment.
Somehow end up upsidedown and the high dihedral rolls the airplane upright.
A little gust comes along and the high dihedral seems to take care of it right away.

It is what allowed the rudder only contest class of 40 years ago to work and what allows a rudder elevator ship to function well.

But it is neat when what you see in practice can be seen in the theory also.