Aft center of gravity effects on longitudinal stability and pitch response are:

• A. It increases longitudinal stability and decreases pitch responsiveness.
• B. It decreases longitudinal stability and increases pitch responsiveness.
• C. It increases stall speed but decreases takeoff distance.
• D. It has no effect on longitudinal stability.

Answer: (B)

When the center of gravity is moved toward the tail, the airplane becomes less stable in pitch. Stability in pitch depends on the CG relative to the neutral point; if the CG ends up behind that point, a small disturbance in angle of attack tends to grow rather than damp out, so longitudinal stability decreases.

At the same time, pitching will feel more responsive. The tail’s influence on pitch (the control effectiveness) increases with a larger distance between the CG and the tail, so elevator inputs produce larger pitch changes. In short, aft CG makes the aircraft less statically stable in pitch but more responsive to pitch inputs.

The other statements don’t fit this relationship: a forward CG would increase stability and typically reduce responsiveness; CG position doesn’t directly dictate stall speed or takeoff distance in this simple stability sense; and CG position clearly does affect longitudinal stability.