Longitudinal Stability
The longitudinal stability of an aircraft refers to the aircraft's stability in the pitching plane - the plane which describes the position of the aircraft's nose in relation to its tail and the horizon. (Other stability modes are directional stability and lateral stability.)
If an aircraft is longitudinally stable, a small increase in angle of attack will cause the pitching moment on the aircraft to change so that the angle of attack decreases. Similarly, a small decrease in angle of attack will cause the pitching moment to change so that the angle of attack increases.
Read more about this topic: Longitudinal Static Stability
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