9409025 jahnke An analytical investigation is carried out for the stability and maneuverability of aircrafts subjected to large perturbations. The stall/spin phenomena lead to catastrophic accidents under such large inputs. The divergence often occurs when the cruise condition becomes unstable due to bifurcation of the steadystates of the aircraft, with the result that the aircraft jumps to a new steady state or limit cycle that represents a spin condition. The stability analysis is performed via a liapunov function using total energy of the aircraft as a guide for constructing such functions. A continuation technique is used to compute specific level curves which define the basin of attraction of the steady state. The analytical technique is quite general, and applicable for stability analysis of a variety of nonlinear dynamical systems. ***
