Vertical Wing Position
The vertical positioning of the wing changes the roll stability of an aircraft.
- An aircraft with a "high" wing position (i.e., set on top of the fuselage) has a higher roll stability. A Cessna 152 is an example.
- An aircraft with a "low" wing (i.e., underneath the fuselage) has less roll stability. A Piper Pawnee is an example of a "low" wing.
This is commonly explained through the analogy of a pendulum-style effect, but this explanation is incorrect (see Pendulum rocket fallacy). Instead, this effect is due to the aircraft's response to sideslip. An aircraft which is rolled to one side will tend to start to sideslip towards the low side of the airplane. A high wing tends to cause the aircraft to roll away from the sideslip, which tends to level the aircraft. A low wing tends instead to roll into the sideslip, increasing the roll angle and therefore increasing the sideslip further.
Read more about this topic: Relaxed Stability
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