Relaxed stability

Similarly, an aircraft with neutral stability will not return to its original attitude without control input, but will continue to roll or pitch at a steady (neither increasing nor decreasing) rate.

[citation needed] The Wright brothers designed their 1903 first powered Flyer with anhedral (drooping) wings, which are inherently unstable.

They showed that a pilot can maintain control of lateral roll and it was a good way for a flying machine to turn—to "bank" or "lean" into the turn just like a bird or just like a person riding a bicycle.

Although used in 1903, it would not become widely known in Europe until August 1908, when Wilbur Wright demonstrated to European aviators the importance of the coordinated use of elevator, rudder and roll control for making effective turns.

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, for instance, employs a highly non-traditional fuselage and wing shape in order to reduce its radar cross section and enable it to penetrate air defenses with relative impunity.

However, the flat facets of the design reduce its stability to the point where a computerized fly-by-wire system is required for it to fly.