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2.9.  STABILITY

For lateral stability, positive dihedral is designed into the wing. In simple terms, this means that the wing tips are higher than the wing roots and the aircraft's center of gravity is below the wing's mean center of pressure. Notice in figure 2.10 that the wing tips for the U-21 and U-6 aircraft are 7º and 2º higher than the wing roots. On the U-21 the tips of the horizontal stabilizer are also higher than the roots. A definition for dihedral then is: the spanwise inclination of a wing or other surface such as a stabilizer relative to the horizontal gives the wing or other surface dihedral. This angle is positive if it is upward and negative if it is downward.

Figure 2.10. Wing Dihedral.

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