Pitching Moment (): The pitching moment is a moment or torque acting on the aircraft, causing it to rotate about its lateral (pitch) axis. It arises due to the aerodynamic forces acting on the wing or airfoil, especially variations in lift and drag with changes in angle of attack
- represents the pitching moment (torque) acting on the wing. This moment affects the aircraft’s rotation about its lateral (pitch) axis.
- is the dynamic pressure of the air. It is given by =122, where is the air density and is the airspeed.
- is the reference wing area, which is the planform area of the wing.
- is the average chord length of the wing. The chord length is the width of the wing from leading edge to trailing edge.
- is the freestream velocity, representing the velocity of the air relative to the aircraft.
- is the moment of inertia about the lateral (pitch) axis. It quantifies the aircraft’s resistance to pitching motion.
- is the pitching moment coefficient with respect to angle of attack (). This coefficient describes how the pitching moment changes with variations in the angle of attack.