Chapter 3

Generalized trim
Goal of this chapter is to introduce and solve the trim problem, starting from the
nonlinear equation of motion. At rst, the generalized trim problem will be in-
troduced. Secondarily, the existence of a solution will be analyzed leading to the
denition of a trimmed trajectory.

3.1 Denition and solution of the trim problem

3.1.1 Problem denition and existence of the solution
Consider again the nonlinear equations of motion of a rigid aircraft

MGB wB + wB . B B
G
B
a
B B B
(M w ) = r (w , w , ) + r (e321 ),
g (3.1a)
e321 = B1 B
S321 , (3.1b)

where raB refers to the generalized aerodynamic forces and rgB to the generalized
gravitational forces.
A trim condition is dened as a ight trajectory for which the generalized velocity
vector measured in the body frame and the input vector remain constant in time,
as
wB = wB = const, = = const. (3.2)
Under the usual hypothesis (i.e. slow fuel consumption, at Earth, . . . ), an aircraft
may maintain a trim condition indenitely.
The trim problem is the one of nding, if any, the constant vectors wB and
along with the trajectory of the Euler angles e321 , which satisfy the nonlinear
equation of motion.
To do so, the trim denition can be substituted into the equation of motion
(3.1a), yielding the following

wB . B B
G
B
a
B B
(M w ) = r (w , 0, ) + r (e321 ).
g (3.3)

Starting from the previous equation, it is necessary to understand whether it

admits a solution and, in the positive case, which kind of trajectory will satisfy the
trimmed conditions.

1
2 CHAPTER 3. GENERALIZED TRIM

First, it is worthwhile to notice that, since two terms of Equation (3.3), i.e.
wB (M B w B ) and r B (w B , 0, ), are constant in trim conditions, also the third one,
.
G a
the generalized gravitational force rgB (e321 ), must be constant.
This said, one should express the generalized gravitational forces as functions
of the Euler angle vector. Clearly, one has to remember that by denition the
Equation (3.1a) are written with respect to the center of gravity and, accordingly,
the gravity-induced moment vector is null. Taking advantage of the fact that the
third unit vector of NED frame N points to the Earth's center, the gravity-induced
force is equal to m g n3 . In the body frame, as already mentioned in the previous
chapters, the gravitational contribution results to be

sin 0 mg sin
fgB = R321
NT N
fg = cos sin 0 = mg cos sin . (3.4)
cos cos mg mg cos cos
Clearly, vector fgB , and in turn rgB , depends only on the rst two Euler angles,
and . Consequently, in trim condition and must be constant while is allowed
to vary. i.e.
= 0, = 0, = (t). (3.5)
Consider, now the evolution of the Euler angle (3.1b), and write it in the navi-
gation frame (or in an inertial one) as,
cos sin N
cos cos 0 1
= sin cos 0 2N (3.6)
tan cos tan sin 1 3N
The previous equation shows that the conditions in (3.5) can be fullled if and only
if the rst two components of the aircraft angular velocity are equal to zero, i.e. the
angular velocity must be parallel to the third unit vector of the navigation frame,
as
k n3 N = (0, 0, (t)). (3.7)
Notice that, the third unit vector of the navigation triad is parallel to the gravity.
From this point of view, imposing the aircraft angular velocity to be parallel to n3
means that it is parallel to the gravity vector.
This said, it is important to understand whether N should be variable in time
or not. To this end, consider again the transformation R321 and use it to transform
the components of the from the navigation to the body frame, in which the
components of must be constant by denition, see (3.2),

sin 0 (t) sin
B = R321
NT N
= const. cos sin 0 = (t) cos sin .
cos cos (t) (t) cos cos
(3.8)
Clearly, the sole way to impose B constant is to have a constant N .
Summarizing, a trimmed trajectory exists if and only if the angular velocity
measured in the navigation frame is either null or constant and parallel to gravity
vector. Accordingly the most general trim trajectory is a helix.
As schematically depicted in Figure 3.1, the trajectories about which an aircraft
can be trimmed are:
3.1. DEFINITION AND SOLUTION OF THE TRIM PROBLEM 3

Steady level ight: typical condition of cruise.

Steady level ight with side-slip: typical condition in the case of lateral wind
of asymmetric thrust.
Steady climbing ight.
Steady descending ight.
Steady turn.
Ascending helix: typical ight condition of gliders (thermal soaring).
Descending helix.
Figure 3.1 itself shows also that a generic ight can be viewed as a sequence of
dierent trim conditions and a generic maneuver represents the link between them.
Notice, as a nal remark, that the typologies of trim conditions do not ex-
actly correspond to those reference conditions for which the decoupling between lin-
earized longitudinal and lateral-directional dynamics is allowed (see Equation (2.92)
of Chapter 2). In fact, although in steady level, climbing and descending ights
the longitudinal/lateral decoupling is allowed, steady turns and helices do not fully
permit a similar simplication as either bank angle or roll and yawing rates are
not null. Similarly, the decoupling is not allowed even about a level ight with a
side-slip angle, for it implies a later aircraft velocity component. Furthermore, a
generic condition with non-null pitch rate is not a trim condition, but may represent
a reference condition for dynamics decoupling.

3.1.2 Trim problem solution determination

In this section, the problem of computing the generalized velocity in the body frame
wB and the evolution of the Euler angles will be considered. To this end, list the
unknowns, and their numbers, as
wB = (U, V, W, p, q, r)T 6 unknowns,
= (T , E , A , R ) T
4 unknowns, (3.9)
e321 = (, , (t))T 3 unknowns,
for a total of 13 unknowns. Notice that the time dependency is kept only for the
heading angle, as, according to the Section 3.1.1(existence of the solution) the
heading angle is the sole allowed to vary.
The algebraic equation can x only 6 of them, hence there are still 7 equations
to be added.
One possibility is to x the six components of the initial generalized velocity
vector in the navigation triad, wN . Of course, vector wN is linked wB by the
transformation tensor R321 from N to B, as
wN = wN (3.10)
where  
R321 (e321 (0)) 0
= , (3.11)
0 R321 (e321 (0))
4 CHAPTER 3. GENERALIZED TRIM

Maneuver #1

Steady level flight

Steady level flight

with a sideslip angle

Maneuver #7
Maneuver #4

Climbing or descending flight Ascending helix

Maneuver #6

Maneuver
Descending helix

Maneuver #5 Maneuver #2

Steady turn

Maneuver #3

Figure 3.1: Schematic representation of trim conditions and maneuvers.

3.1. DEFINITION AND SOLUTION OF THE TRIM PROBLEM 5

and nally e321 (0) is the initial Euler angle vector dened as {, , (0)}.
There is still one relation to be added in order to equalize the number of un-
knowns and equations. Such equation is called piloting condition and can be for-
malized as
fp (wB , ) = 0, (3.12)
and refers to the specic way of trimming the aircraft. A possible example is the
following relation, R = 0, which by itself describes mathematically a trimmed
condition in which the rudder is not used. Another one is = 0 or V = 0, which in
still air would mean ying without sideslip and aligned with the aircraft velocity.
The trim problem is thus
wB . B B
G
B
a
B B
(M w ) r (w , 0, ) r (e321 ) = 0,
g (3.13a)
wB w N
= 0, (3.13b)
fp (wB , ) = 0. (3.13c)
Equations (3.13) represent a non-linear system with 13 unknowns and 13 equa-
tions which can be solved by an iterative process, starting by a suitable initial guess.
As a nal remark, a suitable model of the aerodynamics should be used for
evaluating the term raB (wB , 0, ). This model can be either a fully non linear one
considering the stall behavior of coecients or, as commonly done, a linearized
version valid in the pre-stall regime.