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Pendulum effect, vertical position of CG

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ypsilon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
325
Location
Austria
I am currently designing a tailless soaring machine (hangglider but aerodynamically controlled). I did my maths (by means of XFLR5 and OpenFoam) and realized, that the vertical position of the CG has a significant effect on the stability of the glider. Now at first sight it seems that this "pendulum effect" is easy to understand but looking at the implications regarding the dynamic stability of the wing it doesn't seem so clear.

If you have thoughts / sources of information, opinions on the vertical position, high/low wing aircraft, especially on tailless configurations, let's have a discussion about it.

I'll give it a start with an frightfully unsubstantiated perception:
While the pendulum effect (i.e. a low CG) creates a momentum towards a defined AOA, it also builds up energy when rotating (i.e. inertia) which probably make tumbling more probable and (if it happens) ferocious. Can this effect be quantified?
 
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