Flight Mechanics

Performance, manoeuvres, stability and control. What an aircraft can do and how it behaves: range, endurance, climb and take-off performance, turns and the V-n diagram, and static and dynamic stability with control surfaces.

• Aircraft Performance: Range, Endurance, Climb & Take-off — How far, how long, how high and how short. Learn thrust and power required vs available, maximum and minimum speeds, climb rate and angle, ceilings, gliding flight, the Breguet range and endurance equations for jets and propeller aircraft, specific fuel consumption, payload–range diagrams, take-off and landing distances — with Python for Breguet range.
• Manoeuvres, Load Factor & the V-n Diagram — Turning, pulling up and flying through gusts. Learn load factor n = L/W, level coordinated turns (bank angle, radius, turn rate), pull-up manoeuvres, stall speed in turns, the manoeuvre envelope (V-n diagram) with limit and ultimate loads, manoeuvring speed V_A, gust loads, and structural design speeds — with Python for turns and V_A.
• Aircraft Stability & Control — Why a well-designed aircraft flies itself hands-off. Learn static vs dynamic stability, longitudinal static stability (C_mα < 0), neutral point, static margin and CG limits, trim and elevator authority, lateral-directional stability (dihedral effect, weathercock), control surfaces and hinge moments, and the dynamic modes (short period, phugoid, Dutch roll, spiral, roll subsidence) — with Python for the neutral point and static margin.