What is the term for the aircraft's initial response when displaced from a given angle of attack, slip, or bank?

What is the term for the aircraft's initial response when displaced from a given angle of attack, slip, or bank?

• A. Dynamic stability
• B. Static stability
• C. Positive static stability
• D. Neutral static stability

Answer: (B)

Static stability refers to the aircraft’s initial tendency to return to its equilibrium attitude after a small disturbance in pitch (angle of attack), yaw (slip), or roll (bank). If the disturbance creates a restoring moment, pushing the nose down when α increases or rolling back toward level after a bank, the aircraft is statically stable in that axis. This immediate, initial response is what static stability describes. Dynamic stability, by contrast, looks at how the motion evolves over time after that initial response, including whether oscillations die out or grow. Neutral static stability means there’s no initial restoring tendency, and positive static stability means there is a restoring tendency; the question targets the general initial response, which is static stability.

Static stability refers to the aircraft’s initial tendency to return to its equilibrium attitude after a small disturbance in pitch (angle of attack), yaw (slip), or roll (bank). If the disturbance creates a restoring moment, pushing the nose down when α increases or rolling back toward level after a bank, the aircraft is statically stable in that axis. This immediate, initial response is what static stability describes. Dynamic stability, by contrast, looks at how the motion evolves over time after that initial response, including whether oscillations die out or grow. Neutral static stability means there’s no initial restoring tendency, and positive static stability means there is a restoring tendency; the question targets the general initial response, which is static stability.