Static vs. dynamic stability, the three axes of aircraft motion and their control surfaces, how center of gravity governs longitudinal stability, and the stability derivatives that quantify it all.
Static stability asks only whether the initial moment after a disturbance points back toward equilibrium; dynamic stability asks whether the resulting motion actually damps out over time — and an aircraft can be statically stable while still being dynamically unstable. This module builds that distinction, then works through pitch, roll, and yaw, their elevator, aileron, and rudder control surfaces, and why keeping the center of gravity ahead of the aerodynamic center is what makes an aircraft longitudinally stable at all.
By the end of this module you should be able to explain why rolling with ailerons alone produces adverse yaw, why static margin shrinks as CG moves aft, and how the stability derivatives Cm_α, Cn_β, and Cl_β formalize the same restoring tendencies this module develops from first principles.