Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2016
The behaviour of an elastic aircraft in flight may be divided into dynamic and static cases with an intermediate class of phenomena under the heading of stability. The dynamic category is concerned with flutter and divergence effects and since these are destructive when they occur they are naturally given precedence in the aeroelastic analysis of an aircraft.
Having eliminated these dynamic effects by suitable design it is natural to turn to the static case which assesses the manoeuvrability of the aircraft. With the advent of sweepback and the attainment of higher Mach numbers it becomes increasingly difficult to determine the behaviour of modern aircraft even when regarded as rigid.