Parts of the design of an aircraft that affect the pitching moment

[MattH150197]

If I wanted a higher value for pitching moment due to a change in pitch rate, Mq, what are some design alterations I might make to an aircraft to incorporate this. I am guessing changes to the airfoil or maybe the tailplane but I am not sure what changes you would make to get a desired result.

 

[berkeman]

Thread closed temporarily for Moderation...

 

[berkeman]

If I wanted a higher value for pitching moment due to a change in pitch rate, Mq, what are some design alterations I might make to an aircraft to incorporate this. I am guessing changes to the airfoil or maybe the tailplane but I am not sure what changes you would make to get a desired result.

Thread re-opened after a PM conversation with @MattH150197

This is for a university design competition, where the best 5 paper designs will be built and tested as scale models (no full-size aircraft will be built and test flown). As long as the OP shows good effort in this thread, it can stay in the ME forum for now.

So Matt, you mentioned a couple of possibilities for ways to improve pitching moment. Can you think of a couple more? What are some fighter jet design variationss that have a very high pitching moment capability?

 

[MattH150197]

The length of the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and maybe the weight, the area of the body?

 

[MattH150197]

more technically put the aerodynamics of the fuselage

 

[berkeman]

The length of the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and maybe the weight, the area of the body?

Those would all contribute to slow down the rate. But other than shortening and lightening, what can you do aerodynamically and controls-wise to speed things up. Have you studied fighter jets much yet?

 

[berkeman]

Hint -- I did a Google search on Fighter Jet with Fastest Pitch Rate, and got several good hits. Maybe try that search and read through the more promising pages... Fun project.

 

[MattH150197]

No it is my first year studying aviation technology, so unfortunately we don't go as into much detail as id like in the engineering aspect of it especially compared to aerospace and aircraft engineering and thanks I've found a really good page on what you suggested. Do you think I am maybe over estimating the importance of this certain characteristic? As our design is for a 4 seater single engine aircraft and not likely to be flying at high angles of attack like a jet.

 

[berkeman]

As our design is for a 4 seater single engine aircraft and not likely to be flying at high angles of attack like a jet.

Well that's different. What is the actual project statement? What market are you supposed to optimize this aircraft for? Unless you want to scare the crap out of your closest 3 friends (and then need to find 3 more friends), roll rate and pitch rate are not going to be at the top of the list of features for this aircraft project...

 

[MattH150197]

The project aeroplane is specified as a light aircraft in the general aviation category. Broadly, this implies a range of up to 600 nm / 1000 km. The payload target is initially set at 4 seats, including the pilot, plus some baggage. However, variations around this specification are possible. The design is to be powered by a single piston engine. The task is to identify a market opportunity, derive a technical specification of a competitive new aeroplane and carry out initial design calculations to give more technical detail. The aeroplane should satisfy JAR/FAR certification requirement.
That's the objective of the statement however when I ran some calculations based on my current design I found that when assessing the longitudinal dynamic motions that the damping was insufficient, so I was changing a few numbers to see how I could improve this and found that increasing the pitching moment would help with this.