For generations, Bernard Etkin's book on what was then called "Aircraft Stability and Control" was the classic, and the standard on the subject. But it was known be a difficult book to study.
I believe it is still a good place to start, and a very good reference for deeper study. But do avoid the needlessly complex, yet best known 1972 "second" edition. By all means, find and use the 1995, third and final one.
There are four, very distinct versions of Etkin's book. The first edition ( naturally ) carries no explicit number on the cover. Two of the other ones are both called 2nd edition, and the last one is called 3d edition.
I think the "first" 2nd edition of 1972, called "Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight", is the classic. The 3d edition of 1995 was recently new to me. I feel this is by far the best version. The distinct versions are :
This is a pleasant textbook on "Stability and Control". The cover sports a B-58 Hustler in climbing flight.
This is probably the edition that first established Etkin's reputation as a textbook author.
This is the classic that we all knew and feared. It is a complete overhaul of the first edition. Despite the different title, it is called "the" second edition.
This version spends lavish attention on hypersonic flight around a curved Earth, and at quickly varying atmospheric pressures. This added complexity made it less suitable as an ( undergraduate ) textbook.
In his preface to this "other" second edition, Etkin confesses that he had received much negative feedback on his 1972 second edition as a textbook.
This new edition therefore returns to the text of the first edition, with certain modernizations. Somewhat confusingly, but probably more accurately, Etkin therefore once again calls this the "second edition", but this time it is in fact a second edition of the first book, with the original title. This version deletes the last five chapters of the first edition, and replaces them by two new ones with material taken from the 1972 "second edition".
Relative to the first edition, this "second edition" introduces the use of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Externally, the two "second editions" are very much alike, with a black leather hardcover, and metallic lettering spelling out “second edition”. However, internally they are very different.
The 3d edition is a true revision of the 2nd edition of the first book ( ! )
This version gives the equations of motion in dimensional form, because it is more suitable for real-time computer simulation, like in flight simulators. The model used is the Boeing 747 this time. The cover shows a double shadow image of that airplane.
The prefaces of the books give a clear account of their development. The 3d editon was co-written by Lloyd Reid, who had grown up with the previous versions, first as a student and later as a staff member. Etkin himself had been retired for eleven years by that time.
I believe that Etkin's 3d edition is as good a place to start as any when learning about aircraft dynamics, and the B747 is a good playground.
Last time I looked, a PDF of the 3d edition was freely available here, and in several other places :
| Etkin (1995) | Dynamics of Flight, 3d edition |