What term describes the inherent ability of an aircraft to resist disturbances and return to equilibrium?

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

Answer: (B)

Stability is the inherent tendency of an aircraft to resist disturbances and return to its original flight condition. When the aircraft is nudged by a gust or a control input, positive stability means it will generate restoring moments that nudge the nose back toward the original attitude and path. Static stability describes that initial tendency right after the disturbance, while dynamic stability looks at how the motion evolves over time—whether the oscillations damp out and the aircraft settles back smoothly or continues to diverge.

Maneuverability is about how readily the airplane can be moved from one flight state to another, not the natural tendency to resist disturbances. Controllability concerns the ability to achieve and maintain a desired state using the flight controls, which depends on design and authority, not on the aircraft’s passive response to disturbances. Trim relates to setting the control surfaces to balance forces for a steady flight condition and reduce pilot effort, rather than describing the aircraft’s natural resistance to disturbances.

So the term that best fits the description is stability.