Notes regarding the Modeling of the Angle of Attack

The University Politehnica of Bucharest, Aerospace Sciences Department, Romania

^* Corresponding author: laurentiu.moraru@gmail.com

Abstract

Numerical integration has become routine for many decades and so has become the numerical integration of the aircraft’s equation of motion. Many numerical algorithms have been used in flight dynamics and the applications of the basic numerical methods to flight simulation have been included in textbooks for a long time. However, many design and/or optimization algorithms rely on analyzing large amounts of simulated data, so analytical algorithms that can provide expedite estimations of the fast varying parameters have been revaluated. The current paper discusses approximate analytical solutions for the angle of attack. Two types of such solutions are discussed. The first model considered originates in the classically linearized equations of motion. The second model discussed was obtained by simplifying the nonlinear equations of motion. The two models are compared against numerical results, provided by classical numerical integration algorithms.