Pitch Rate Moment (): The pitch rate moment is a moment or torque that influences the aircraft’s rotational motion or pitch about its lateral (pitch) axis. It is a measure of how the aircraft responds to changes in pitch rate (), which is the rate at which the aircraft’s nose is rotating up or down.
- represents the pitch rate moment or torque acting on the aircraft. It’s associated with the aircraft’s pitch (rotation about the lateral axis) due to angular acceleration.
- is the pitching moment coefficient with respect to pitch rate (). It describes how the pitching moment varies with changes in the pitch rate. is the average chord length of the wing, a key geometric parameter.
- is the freestream velocity, representing the velocity of the air relative to the aircraft.
- is the dynamic pressure of the air, given by , where is the air density and is the airspeed.
- is the reference wing area, which is the planform area of the wing.
- is the moment of inertia about the lateral (pitch) axis, quantifying the aircraft’s resistance to pitching motion.