Piloting techniques and flying qualities of the next generation of aircraft

Extract

The main objective of the first builders of flying machines was to fly; the question of handling qualities was not so important as the question of performance. But when the fight against weight began to be won, the pilots wanted to fly easily. This was a reasonable requirement but very difficult to comply with because everybody had their own opinion about the meaning of “easily”. The engineers added some confusion by introducing mathematics. After many years of discussion during which everybody talked about C_m, C_mq,stability and manoeuvrability, the engineers won the battle and prescribed the holy regulations that they wanted and that they hoped would be eternal. For instance the centre of gravity lost its freedom and was assigned a position always ahead of the neutral point.