An interpretation of airplane general motion and contol as inverse problem

A theoretical study for the inverse problem of the airplane general motion, that is, the problem of how an airplane should be controlled, when its flight maneuver is given, is described. An interpretation of this problem is made, and a general and practical method to solve the problem is developed. The distinctive features of this approach are to transform all the state variables of the airplane motion into the functions of the angle of attack a, sideslip angle p and bank angle <p, and to pay special attention to the distinction between the flight-path angles and the flight attitude angles. By treating the triplet (a, p, <p) as key variables it becomes easy to have insight into this complicated problem. This approach is applicable not only to conventional methods of motion and control but also to new and unusual methods through consideration of the degree of freedom of (a, (3,<p) for a given maneuver. A numerical calculation of an interesting flight maneuver is presented and discussed to illustrate the problem.