An Overview of Governing Equations for Longitudinal Stability of WIG Craft

Abstract

Wing-in-Ground (WIG) craft is a highly promising vehicle for the new future transportation mode due to its potential for increased speed. At the moment however, despite its rapid development, stability remains a major issue for the WIG craft. The variation of aerodynamic characteristics of WIG craft with different angles of attack and the changing ground effects with flying altitudes will shift the aerodynamic center along the chord line. This situation can further lead to performance risks and cause many unfortunate accidents. To address this issue, it is important to have proper understanding of the longitudinal stability and ground effect phenomenon for WIG craft. In conjunction to this, this paper provides an overview of background knowledge and essential governing relationships that are required to conduct longitudinal stability analysis for a WIG craft.