0.

6 Estimation of the inertia of an aircraft

0.6 Estimation of the inertia of an aircraft

The aerodynamic characteristics of an aircraft may be estimated quite accu-
rately if enough information about its geometry is available. But this is not
true when obtaining the inertia, since few information is generally available to
calculate it. Next we will show two ways of doing so. The result is nothing
more than a reasonable estimation that we will consider to be academically
acceptable.

0.6.1 Procedure A (approximated) for the estimation of the

inertia of an aircraft
Reference: Raymer22 .
With:

• b= aircraft wingspan.

• L= aircraft length.

We approximately have:
 2
b
Ixx = m Rx2 (0.103)
2
 2
L
Iyy = m Ry2 (0.104)
2
b+L 2 2
 
Izz = m Rz (0.105)
2

The values of the non-dimensional radii of gyration Rx , Ry and Rz are esti-

mated for dierent kinds of aircraft according to Table 2.

22 J.P. Raymer, Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach, pages 443-444.

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Chapter 0. Procedures

KIND OF AIRCRAFT Rx Ry Rz
Low-wing light monoplane 0.248 0.338 0.393
High-wing light monoplane 0.242 0.397 0.393
Light twin-engine 0.373 0.269 0.461
Twin jet-engine, light 0.293 0.312 0.420
Twin jet-engine, heavy 0.370 0.356 0.503
Twin turboprop transport 0.235 0.363 0.416
Jet airliner (4 engines) 0.322 0.339 0.464
Prop ghter (2 engines) 0.330 0.299 0.447
Jet airliner (3 engines, one at the tail) 0.249 0.375 0.452
Jet airliner (2 wing-mounted engines) 0.246 0.332 0.456
Turboprop (4 engines) 0.322 0.324 0.456
Turboprop (2 engines) 0.308 0.345 0.497
Jet ghter 0.266 0.346 0.400
Prop ghter (1 engine) 0.268 0.360 0.420
Bomber (2 engines) 0.270 0.320 0.410
Bomber (4 engines) 0.316 0.320 0.376
Concorde (delta wing) 0.253 0.380 0.390

Table 2: Typical values of Rx , Ry and Rz for dierent kinds of aircraft.

0.6.2 Procedure B (approximated) for the estimation of the

inertia of an aircraft
Reference: Russell23 .
This procedure is based on Figures 0.43 to 0.45.

The original reference mentions the methodology followed to obtain the regres-
sion lines shown. In this case, we have:
2
Ixx = m (kx ) kg m2 (0.106)
2
Iyy = m (ky ) kg m2 (0.107)
2 2
Izz = m (kz ) kg m (0.108)

with:

• b = bw = wingspan.

• lB = fuselage length.
23 J.B. Russell, Performance and Stability of Aircraft; ARNOLD.

98
 0.6 Estimation of the inertia of an aircraft

Figure 0.43: Typical values of kx as a function of the wingspan.

Figure 0.44: Typical values of ky as a function of the wingspan.

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Chapter 0. Procedures

Figure 0.45: Typical values of kz as a function of the wingspan.

In general, any data you can obtain about the real inertia of an aircraft model
will be welcome to improve the available database (if you include the source,
the value of the obtained data improves).

100