The Study of the Global Stability of High Performance Aircraft at High Angles-of-Attack

In order to study the global stability or the high performance aircraft at high angles-of-attack, this paper describes a new approach hased on the qualitative theory of O.D.E., bifurcation analysis and catastrophe theory. First, a series of algorithms are given, by which equilibrium, bifurcation surfaces and periodic attractors are calculated and the global stability of the aircraft is discussed. Secondly, the relations between the stability criteria commonly used in aircraft designs and the eigenvalues of linearized matrices at the equilibrium points are studied. Finally, by means of calculation of a concrete aircraft, some important high angles-of-attack flight phenomena, such as jump, hysteresis, wing rock and spin are analysed by the approach.