Abstract
The longitudinal stability of the system represented by towing airplane, cable, and sailplane is investigated. The differential problem concerning the cable dynamics, the boundary conditions of which are the equations of motion of the two planes, is formulated. The resulting set of equations is linearized and the stability analysis is carried out. Strong interactions are shown to take place between cable, tow plane, and sailplane motions, leading to unstable situations in the considered range of practical flight conditions. Nomenclature A = rope cross section CD, CL = drag and lift coefficients of the rope CDO» k — force coefficients of the rope CMj, = moment coefficient due to the rope tension CT = thrust coefficient Cw = weight coefficient, 2mg/pU^S Q, Cf, CM = aerodynamic coefficients of the planes c = mean aerodynamic chord d = rope diameter E = Young's modulus Fl9F = inertial and body reference frames g = acceleration of gravity / = moment of inertia L = transformation matrix from F/ to F I = length of the rope
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