Study on the Impact of Winglets’ Size on Aircraft Stability for a Tailless Configuration

This paper presents an aerodynamic and dynamic analysis of an aircraft in a tailless configuration. The main goal was to assess the impact of the winglets’ dimensions on the dynamic stability of the aircraft in a tailless configuration. First of all, the numerical computation of aerodynamic characteristics was conducted. The obtained stability derivatives allowed for initially evaluating the static stability of the aircraft. Next, the dynamic analysis was performed. The simplified method for selected modes was applied, as it allows for making a quick estimation. The achieved results will enable us to assess the potential impact of the winglets’ size on the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft, like a change in the flap deflection necessary to satisfy the trim conditions and L/D ratio under trim condition. Moreover, the winglets’ scale effect on the basic flight modes was considered. The damping ratio and the time constant versus winglets’ scale were analyzed. The obtained results allow for finding the initial winglets’ parameters for a tailless aircraft configuration.