A STUDY OF PILOT INDUCED LATERAL-DIRECTIONAL INSTABILITIES

Abstract : A physical description of the destabilizing mechanism responsible for certain pilot-induced lateral-directional instabilities is presented. In addition, the theoretical and experimental effort proporting to support the physical ARGUMENTS IS INCLUDED. The basis for this study was a pilot-induced instability known to exist for the X-15 research aircraft-pilot combination for certain conditions of flight. Accordingly, a major portion of the effort was concentrated upon the analysis of a specific known instability. Nevertheless, it is the opinion of the authors that the resultant conclusions are quite general. (Author)