What is the inherent quality of an aircraft to correct for disturbances and return to its original flight path?

• A. Equilibrium
• B. Stability
• C. Maneuverability
• D. Trim

Answer: (B)

Stability is the aircraft's inherent tendency to oppose disturbances and return to its original flight path. When a gust or control input nudges the airplane away from its trimmed attitude, a stable aircraft tends to resume that attitude, and if the response is damped over time, it has good dynamic stability. Equilibrium is simply a balanced state of forces and moments, not how the airplane responds to being disturbed. Maneuverability describes how readily the airplane can change direction or attitude, and trim is about setting the flight condition so the aircraft can fly hands-off at a given speed. The best fit for the described quality is stability.