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ProAdvice3:AILERONSIZING
Introduction
The purpose of the ailerons is to providecontrol about the airplanes roll axis. There are threecommon types of
aileronsusedinmodernairplanes;PlainFlapAilerons,FriseAilerons,andSpoilerFlapAilerons.Schematicsofthese
areshowninFigure1.OtherailerontypesincludetheFlaperon(acombinationofflapsandailerons)andElevon(a
combinationofelevatorsandailerons).

Figure1:Threecommontypesofailerons;PlainFlap(top),Frise(middle),andSpoilerFlap(bottom).

PlainFlapAilerons
The plain flap is the most common type of aileron configuration. They are very effective and inexpensive to
manufacture. For this reason, they can be found on a wide range of aircraft, ranging from primary trainers to
commercial aircraft. As can be seen in Figure 1 the aileron on the upgoing wing is deflected Trailing Edge Down
(TED)andthedowngoingwingisdeflectedTrailingEdgeUp(TEU).

FriseAilerons
TheFriseaileronwasinventedbythefameddesignerLeslieGeorgeFriseBScFRAeS(18971979)
1
.Theirpurposeis
toreduceoreliminateadverseyaw(seeSection22),butalsotoreducehingemoments.Thiscanbeaccomplished
inseveralways,ofwhichoneisshowninFigure1.Allrequirethehingetobeoffsettothelowersurfaceasshown
inthefigure.

The geometry of the aileron forces the leading edge of the aileron that is deflected Trailing Edge Up (TEU)
downwardandoutsideoftheregularOutsideMoldLine(OML).Thisexposesittotheairstreamandincreasesthe
drag on that side of the wing (the downgoing side). The drag generates a yawing moment and reduces the

1
Among well know aircraft whose design he contributed to in are the Bristol Fighter, Bristol Bulldog , Bristol Beaufighter, and the Hunting
PercivalJetProvost.
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tendencyofthewingtoyawoutoftheturn,oppositethebank.Iftheleadingedgeoftheaileronisroundlike
the one shown in the figure, a powerful low pressure region is generated that lowers the hinge moment. This
explains its use in both fast and large aircraft before the advent of hydraulically boosted control systems. If the
noseistoosharpthelowersurfacemaystall,whichcancauseseverebuffeting(Reference1).Thistypeofaileron
has seen use on many different aircraft types; among them the B17, Bell P39, Grumman F6F3 and TBF, the
Spitfire,Hurricane,FockeWulf190,CurtissWrightC46,andDC4,andmanyCessnamodels.

SpoilerFlapAilerons
Several airplanes feature this type of ailerons (e.g. Mitsubishi MU2, Boeing B52, and others). This aileron type
usuallyfeaturesaflapdeflectedTrailingEdgeDown(TED)ontheupgoingwingandasmallspoileronthedown
goingside.Asthespoilerisdeployeditreducesliftonthedowngoingside.Theailerononthatsidemayormay
notdeflectTEUatthesametime.Thespoilerincreasesthedragonthedowngoingwingandreducesadverseyaw.
However,acommoncomplaintisthatsuchaileronsystemstendtobesluggishatlowairspeeds,asseparatedflow
creeps forward toward the leading edge of the wing, and reduces the effectiveness of the spoiler. This control
system may display peculiar sideeffects on swept wing aircraft. As an example, it is well known that B52 pilots
complain about a significant nose pitchup moment associated with aileron deflection. It turns out that as the
spoilers are deployed the center of lift moves forward; destabilizing the aircraft such it pitches noseup. An
assertivenosepitchdowncorrectionisrequiredbythepilot.

Aileron Design Requirements

Amongcriticaldesignpointsforaileronsarethefollowing:

1. Responsivenessatslowspeedswithlargedeflections.
2. Responsivenessathighspeedswithlowdeflections.
3. Comfortablestickforcesthroughoutflightenvelope.

Another term for responsiveness is roll authority. Although responsiveness at slow speeds is imperative (low
dynamic pressure requires greater deflection or control surface area, or a combination of the two), high speed
functionalityisofgreatimportanceaswell.Ithasbeenknownforalongtimethatapilotsconceptionofadequate
roll control is tied to the helix angle made by the wing as the airplane rolls at a given airspeed
2
; pb/2V. In this
expression,pistherollrateinradianspersecondforfullailerondeflection,bisthewingspan(inftorm),andVis
theairspeed(inft/sorm/s).Thisway,itisrecommendedthatforspecifictypesofaircraftthefollowingratiosare
metorexceeded:

Cargoorheavyliftaircraft:
07 . 0
2
>
V
pb

Fighteraircraft:
09 . 0
2
>
V
pb

Fortheaircraftdesignerthismeansthatthephysicaldimensionsoftheaileronscanbedeterminedbasedonthe
desiredrollrate.Astepbystepdesignapproachispresentedbelow.

Estimating Steady-State Roll Rate

When the ailerons are deflected the airplane begins to roll. The motion consists of a transient acceleration that
disappearsoncetherollrateincreasesandafterwhichthereisasteadyrollrate.Thesteadystaterollratewhichis
helpfulindeterminingapilotdesiredresponsiveness.

2
PerAirplanePerformanceStabilityandControlbyPerkinsandHage,page352.
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Figure2:Changeinliftduetoailerondeflection.

Thesteadystaterollrateisdeterminedfrom:

a
p
l
a
l
C
C
V
pb
o =
o
2
(1)

Notethatthesteadystaterollratecanbedeterminedfrom:

|
.
|

\
|
o =
o
b
V
C
C
p
a
p
l
a
l 2
(2)

Rollauthorityandrolldampingfortwospecialbutcommonwingplanformshapes.

CASE1:StraightTaperedWingwithTaperRatio:

Rollauthority: ( )
( )
( )
(

+ =
o
o
3
1
3
2
2
1
2
2
3
1 4
b b
b
b b
Sb
C c
C
R
a
l
a
l
(3)

Rolldamping:
( )
| | +
+
=
o
3 1
24S
b C c c
C
R do l
p
l
(4)

Unitsforboth: perradianorperdegree

CASE2:RectangularWing(=1):

Rollauthority:
( )
2
2
1
2
2
b
b b c
C
a
l
a
l

=
o
o
(5)

Rolldamping:
6
do l
p
l
c c
C
+
=
o
(6)

DERIVATION:
Assumethewingisrigidandtherollingmotioniscausedbydeflectingtheaileronstoanangleo
a
.Furtherassume
the roll rate p is impeded by the roll damping due to a local change in AOA along the wing (with a minor
contribution from the vertical tail). Therefore we can write the equation of rolling motion for the aircraft as
follows:
ProAdvice3 AILERONSIZING Copyright2011GreatOwlPublishing 4
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a
a
XX
L
V
pb
p
L
p I o
o c
c
+
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
2
(i)

Where I
XX
is the aircrafts moment of inertia (in slugsft or kgm) p
is the roll acceleration in rad/s, L is the
rollingmomentinftlb
f
orNm,ando
a
istheailerondeflectionindegrees.

a
a
a
a
a
a
p L
L
V
pb L
V
pb
p
L L
V
pb
p
L
o
c c
o c c
=
|
.
|

\
|
o
o c
c
=
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
o
o c
c
+
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
2 2 2
0

Intermsofstabilityderivativeswecanwrite:

a
p
l
a
l
C
C
V
pb
o =
|
.
|

\
| o
2
(ii)

So, the problem boils down to the determination of the two derivatives C
loa
and C
lp
, but this will be shown in a
futureProAdvice.
QED

STEP-BY-STEP: Aileron Sizing

STEP1: EstablishinitialdimensionsbasedonFigure3.Alsodeterminethelikelyailerondeflectionangle,o
a
.
Note that the control system will stretch in flight reducing the maximum ground deflection. This
means that a control system designed for a maximum deflection of, say, 15 on the ground, may
only deflect as much as 75% of that in flight. Some control systems are so poorly designed
3
that
they may only achieve 25% of the maximum deflection. At any rate, 75% is a reasonable first
stabestimateforanaveragecontrolsystem.Thiswouldmeanthatamaximumdeflectionof15
iscloserto11.3inflight.

STEP2:
Using the geometry from STEP 1, estimate roll damping,
p
l
C . Use Equation (4) for a straight
taperedwing,andEquation(6)foraHersheybarwing.

STEP3:
UsingthegeometryfromSTEP1,estimatetherollauthority,
a
l
C
o
.UseEquation(3)forastraight
taperedwing,andEquation(5)foraHersheybarwing.

STEP4: DetermineadesiredtargetrollhelixangleperSection23.5.2usingEquation(1).Ifthecalculated
value is less than the selected target enlarge b
1
or b
2
, or both. Note that b
2
can never be larger
thanb/2and0<b
1
<b
2
.

3
Poorlydesignedheremeanthatitresultsinexcessivestretching.
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Figure3:Definitionoftheailerongeometry.

Special Case Aileron Sizing: Constant Chord Wing

Thefollowingexpressioncanbeusedtodeterminethespanwiselocationoftheinboardedgeoftheaileron,fora
givenoutboardedge.Itonlyappliestoconstantchord(Hersheybar)wings.

Physicaldimension:
2
2
2
1
2
b b
c
C
V
pb
b
a
a
l
p
l
+
o
|
.
|

\
|
=
o
(7)

Fractionaldimension:
2
1 1
2
|
.
|

\
|
+
o
|
.
|

\
|
=
o
b
b
c
C
V
pb
b
b
a
a
l
p
l
(8)

Where; b
1
=Spanwisestationfortheinboardedgeoftheaileron,inftorm.
b
2
=Spanwisestationfortheoutboardedgeoftheaileron,inftorm.

DERIVATION:
BeginwithEquation(1)andsolveforC
loa
:

a
p
l
a
l a
p
l
a
l
C
V
pb
C
C
C
V
pb
o
|
.
|

\
|
= o =
|
.
|

\
|
o
o
2 2
(i)

Rollauthorityforarectangularwingcanbeshowntobe:

( )
2
2
1
2
2
2 b
b b c C
V
pb
C
a
l
a
p
l
a
l

=
o
|
.
|

\
|
=
o
o
(ii)

Sinceourtargetistodeterminetheinboardstation,b
1
,fortheaileronwesolveforitusingEquation(ii):

2
2
2
1
2
b
c
b
C
V
pb
b
a
l a
p
l
+
o
|
.
|

\
|
=
o
(iii)
QED
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EXAMPLE1:
AUAVisbeingdesignedwithaHersheybarwingwhosedimensionsareshowninFigure4.Themaximumaileron
ground deflection is 20. Assuming that 75% of that will be achievable in flight, determine the roll rate for
maximumailerondeflectionatV=100KTASifchangeinliftwithailerondeflection,c
loa
,hasbeenfoundtoequal
3.165perradianandtheairfoilsliftcurveslopeisc
lo
=5.322perradianandsectiondragcoefficientistakenasc
do

= 0.010. Compare the results to that obtained from the VortexLattice code SURFACES presented in the same
examples.

Figure4:Examplegeometry.

SOLUTION:
DeterminethederivativeC
loa

( )
( ) ( ) = =
(

= =
o
=
}
o
o
/ 01036 . 0 /rad 5936 . 0
2
1
12 12
165 . 3 2
2
6
3
2
2
1
y
dy y c
Sb
c
d
dC
C
b
b
a
l
a
l
a
l

STEP2:DeterminethederivativeC
lp

/rad 8887 . 0
6
010 . 0 322 . 5
6
=
+
=
+
=
o
do l
p
l
c c
C

STEP3:Determinetherollhelixangle
Basedonthistherollrateat100KTAScanbefoundfromEquation(1),wherethemaximumachievabledeflection
amountsto20x0.75=15:

deg 02 . 10
180
15
8887 . 0
5936 . 0
2
=
|
.
|

\
| t

= o =
o
a
p
l
a
l
C
C
V
pb

STEP4:Determinetherollratep

( ) /s 9 . 282
12
8 . 168 2
15
8887 . 0
5936 . 0 2
=
|
.
|

\
|

=
|
.
|

\
|
o =
o
b
V
C
C
p
a
p
l
a
l

AmodelofthiswingwasconstructedinSURFACES.Oncecomplete,theTasks>StabilityDerivativeswasselected
on the VLM Console and the two options checked as shown in the image below. The aileron authority and roll
dampingwherethendeterminedandfoundtoequal:
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= =
o
rad/ 6336 . 0 /rad 4134 . 0
p
l
a
l
C and C

Therefore,SURFACESpredictsthefollowingrollrateforthewing:

( ) /s 3 . 275
12
8 . 168 2
15
0.6336 -
0.4134 2
=
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
.
|

\
|
o =
o
b
V
C
C
p
a
p
l
a
l

Ascanbeseen,thesolutionfromSURFACESaccountsfortipeffectsbothfortherootandtipoftheaileron,aswell
asthatofthewing.Thatinteractionisquitecomplicatedanditisanimportantdetailtocapturesothatonedoes
notoverestimatetherollrate.

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Maximizing Responsiveness
Some airplanes require flap span to be maximized to meet requirements for stall speed. This means that the
aileronspanislessthanideal.Thedesignercanattempttoimprovetheeffectivenessoftheremainingaileronsby
positioningthecentroidoftheaileronplanformascloseaspossibletothelocationwheretheirspanwisesection
momentreachesmaximum.

Considerthetaperedwingplanform(halfspan)below:

Figure5:DefinitionofaninfinitesimalsegmentASonthewing.

Spanwisesectionmoment(analogoustosectionliftorsectionliftcoefficient)isdefinedasfollows:

( ) S C q y M C y C
l X l m
A = A = A

Where; AC
m
=Spanwisemomentcoefficient
C
l
=Sectionliftcoefficient
AM
X
=Elementalrollingmoment
y=Spanwisestation
q=Dynamicpressure
AS=Areaofelementalstrip

Considerthewingshownbelow,whichshowthedistributionofsectionliftcoefficients:

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Figure6:Distributionofsectionliftcoefficientalongthewing
4
.

Letszoominandshowthesectionmomentsforastrip:

Figure7:Generationofspanwisesectionmoment.

Letsplotthesectionmomentsforeachstrip.

4
GeneratedwiththeVortexLatticecodeSURFACES.
AS
i

y
i

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Figure8:Distributionofsectionmomentsalongthewing.

The effect of deflecting ailerons on the distribution of section lift coefficients canbe seen in Figure9 below. The
aileronsaredeflectedsome15andthewingsAOAamountsto8at100KCAS.

Figure9:Typicalimpactofdeflectingaileronsonthesectionliftcoefficients
5
.

5
GeneratedwiththeVortexLatticecodeSURFACES.
Maximum section moment. This is where
we should try to place the centroid of the
aileron. This will achieve maximum
responsiveness.
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Figure10:Impactofailerondeflectionontheflowfieldbehindtheaircraft.Notethedifferenceinthewingtip
vortices
6
.

Aileron Stick Forces

Inaconventional,humanoperatedaileroncontrolsystem,thepilotmustreactthehingemomenttheresultsfrom
deflectingthecontrolsurface.Thisisdonebyapplyingaforcetothepropercontrol(astick,yoke,orasteering
wheel).

Figure11:Thehingemoment(HM)isreactedasaforce,eitherdirectlybythepilotorbyacontrolsystem
(typicallyhydraulicorelectric).

Hingemomentsarehighlyaffectedbythegeometryofthecontrols,includingthehingelocationandshapeofthe
control.Ageneralexpressionforthehingemomentisgivenbelow:

h f f
C S C V HM
2
2
1
= (9)

Where; C
f
=Flapchord(aftofhingeline)
C
h
=Hingemoment

6
GeneratedwiththeVortexLatticecodeSURFACES.
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S
f
=Flaparea(aftofhingeline)
V=Airspeed,
=Densityofair

Figure12:Geometrydefinitions

Thehingemomentcoefficientisgivenby:

t
t
h h h h h
C C C C C o + o + o + =
o o o 0
(10)

WHATISProAdvice?

ProAdvicesareshortandsimplifiedexcerptsfromProfessorGudmundssonsdesignhandbookAircraftPreliminary
DesignHandbookandareintendedtoprovidetheaircraftdesignerwithclearandconciseanalysismethodsforthe
aircraft designer. This handbook is currently in development. Snorri Gudmundsson is an Assistant Professor of
Aerospace Engineering at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he teaches
AircraftPreliminaryDesigntoseniorengineeringstudents.