AE372 Flight Mechanics

Spring 2016, Dr. Ilkay Yavrucuk

HW#2
AE 372 Flight Mechanics
Spring 2016
Due on: Friday, April 01, 2016, Beginning of class

Note: You are allowed to talk and discuss the questions with each other. However anything
written and submitted should be your own work. It is extremely important that you go through
the thought process of these questions to learn and be successful in this course.

Question1:

Consider a car with a jet engine racing with an acrobatic airplane (Figure 1). Both the car
driver and the pilot follow each other to check who is ahead in the race. YOU are of course
observing the race standing still on the ground. The road points straight to North.

V yB
xB
c.g.

zB

yE
N oE S
xE
zE

yI
yC
oI
xI xC
zI Vc
zC
Figure 1: A car with a jet engine racing with an airplane.

1
AE372 Flight Mechanics
Spring 2016, Dr. Ilkay Yavrucuk

The problem is set up such that one coordinate system is attached to the aircraft body at its
center of gravity (body-axis of the aircraft, OBXBYBZB) , one coordinate system is attached to
the car (body-axis of the car, OcXcYcZc), and another coordinate system is attached to the
ground (earth fixed coordinate system, OEXEYEZE) with its x-axis pointing towards North.
The inertial frame is OcXcYcZc. The velocity of the car with respect to (w.r.t.) you (the earth

fixed coordinate system) is Vc and points directly towards North. The velocity, V , and the

angular velocity, , of the aircraft with respect to you (the earth fixed coordinate system) is
also shown in the Figure. The following is known:

1. The atmosphere is still (no wind)
2. The airplane is in the following angular position (in Euler angles): =30deg, = -
15deg, =0deg.
3. The AOA at the position shown is =5deg and the sideslip angle is =10deg.
4. The magnitude of the velocity of the aircraft w.r.t you is 120knots.
5. The Velcoity Vector of the aircraft written in the body axis system is constant
throughout the maneuver.

6. The angular velocity vector of the aircraft w.r.t you is B =[5 -5 0]T deg/s at the
moment shown in the picture.
7. The speed of the car is 220km/h.
8. The earth rotation and curvature can be ignored for these speeds (making the earth
the equivalent as the inertial frame).

I. Answer the following:
a. Plot the vehicle carried coordinate system and the wind axis system onto the figure.
b. What is the velocity of the aircraft w.r.t. the earth frame, written as components of
the aircrafts body axis system.
c. Express the aircraft velocity (w.r.t. the earth frame) as components of the earth
fixed coordinate system. First find a transformation matrix between the two
coordinate systems.
d. What is the velocity of the aircraft written as components of the vehicle carried
frame?
e. What is the time rate of change of the Euler Angles ( , , )?
f. What is the translational acceleration of the aircraft w.r.t. earth?
g. What is the translational acceleration of the aircraft w.r.t. the car?