Flying-wing aircraft are known for their high aerodynamic efficiency and are
often utilized in solar-powered aircraft. However, they generally exhibit poor stability
and controllability. Unswept-wing flying-wing aircraft, also called “flying planks”, possess
aerodynamic characteristics that differ from swept-wing flying-wing designs. This study
utilizes the vortex lattice method to calculate the aerodynamic coefficients and derivatives
of a lightweight, small-scale, unswept-wing flying-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
The study analyzes the longitudinal static stability, longitudinal and lateral-directional
dynamic stability under varying angles of attack (AoAs) and climb angles as well as the
effects of the centre of gravity (CG) position below the wing on the stability of the UAV.An aeromodel is constructed and test-flown to validate the findings. Results show that the
longitudinal stability of the unswept-wing flying-wing aircraft differs from that of conventional configurations. These aircraft show almost no tendency for dutch-roll, and maintain
lateral-directional stability without stability augmentation. Lowering the CG position can
alter the trimmed AoAs, and enhance the pitch stability at positive AoAs and deteriorates
the pitch stability at negative AoAs or large climbing angles; it also narrows the flight
envelope. Unswept-wing flying wings possess various unconventional characteristics during
flight and need further investigation.
LI Zhikai1 , WEI Sha1, 2, 3 , DING Hu1, 2, 3 , CHEN Liqun1, 2, 3
. Stability and controllability of unswept-wing
flying-wing aircraft[J]. Journal of Shanghai University, 2024
, 30(5)
: 925
-937
.
DOI: 10.12066/j.issn.1007-2861.2605