Animal flight dynamics I. Stability in gliding flight.

Journal article

Stability is as essential to flying as lift itself, but previous discussions of how flying animals maintain stability have been limited in both number and scope. By developing the pitching moment equations for gliding animals and by discussing potential sources of roll and yaw stability, we consider the various sources of static stability used by gliding animals. We find that gliding animals differ markedly from aircraft in how they maintain stability. In particular, the pendulum stability pr...

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Authors: Thomas, A; Taylor, G

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of theoretical biology
• Volume: 212
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 399-424
• Publication date: 2001-10-01
• DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.2001.2387
• EISSN: 1095-8541
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• Language: English
• Keywords: Birds; Wing; Flight, Animal; Postural Balance; Models, Biological; Biophysical Phenomena; Animals; Biophysics