After more research, I've learned a few things. Namely about Torque. To simplify, T=FL. Torque = Force * Distance. This is the basis for aircraft pitch; but it's not that simple. In order to calculate how much torque to apply to the x-axis, you have to calculate how much torque the main wing is generating. This can be found by taking the wing lift and multiplying that by the distance from the center of gravity to the wing center of pressure. Wing Torque = Wing Lift * Distance CG to CP. Looks familiar right? T=F*L!! So when a plane is flying along, the main wing is constantly generating a torque. We do the same for the tail. Add them both together to get the total pitch torque. Throw in some inertia and apply that to the x-axis and you get some VERY realistic pitching my friends. I'm excited. :)
Aircraft Pitch Revisited
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Aircraft Pitch Revisited All the time I've ever done any aeroplane stuff I've just made it up as I've gone along and ended up with stuff that feels about right even if in real terms it's a load of bull... I find this approach far simpler and more appropriate for games.
Of course, if you're writing a simulator your way is certainly the better option!
Of course, if you're writing a simulator your way is certainly the better option!
I'm gaining two-fold from all this research, The first is of course I'm writing a sim and I prefer it to act somewhat realistic. And the second is that I'm genuinely interested in learning aerodynamics because after I retire from the af, I'm going to pursue a job with the FAA in aircraft crash investigations.
Also if you really wanna get accurate, you can model the elevator like this: T = F * D * sin(angle) where the sin is the angle of the elevator from the CG.
Also if you really wanna get accurate, you can model the elevator like this: T = F * D * sin(angle) where the sin is the angle of the elevator from the CG.
Also, I'll be breaking each wing into 2 sections (inner and outer). The inner wing will have the flap and the outer will have the aileron. Say your left outer wing gets blown off. You'll lose the natural lift and torque created by it as well as the aileron surface. So I'm assuming the plane will start to roll left and aileron response will be sluggish. I haven't added this stuff yet but it's on the list.
Well I applaud your attention to detail! I'm more for quick and dirty... as it were!
I wish it hadn't taken me so long to get all this right. But it's probably due to lack of effort. I just picked up a new book called Physics for Dummies. I never thought I'd buy one of those book but after perusing it in the store, I realized it has pretty much everything you need in there to write your own physics system.