Aircraft Flight Dynamics and Control addresses airplane flight dynamics and control in a largely classical manner, but with references to modern treatment throughout. Classical feedback control methods are illustrated with relevant examples, and current trends in control are presented by introductions to dynamic inversion and control allocation.

This book covers the physical and mathematical fundamentals of aircraft flight dynamics as well as more advanced theory enabling a better insight into nonlinear dynamics. This leads to a useful introduction to automatic flight control and stability augmentation systems with discussion of the theory behind their design, and the limitations of the systems. The author provides a rigorous development of theory and derivations and illustrates the equations of motion in both scalar and matrix notation.

Key features:

• Classical development and modern treatment of flight dynamics and control
• Detailed and rigorous exposition and examples, with illustrations
• Presentation of important trends in modern flight control systems
• Accessible introduction to control allocation based on the author's seminal work in the field
• Development of sensitivity analysis to determine the influential states in an airplane's response modes
• End of chapter problems with solutions available on an accompanying website

Written by an author with experience as an engineering test pilot as well as a university professor, Aircraft Flight Dynamics and Control provides the reader with a systematic development of the insights and tools necessary for further work in related fields of flight dynamics and control. It is an ideal course textbook and is also a valuable reference for many of the necessary basic formulations of the math and science underlying flight dynamics and control.

Wayne Durham, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA
Wayne Durham is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the College of Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His area of research focuses on aircraft flight dynamics and control and he teaches a course (AOE 5214) on this subject at Virginia Tech University. He previously worked as a flight instructor at various Navy Schools in the US.