What does static stability refer to in an aircraft?

Static stability in an aircraft is defined as the initial tendency of an aircraft to return to its original position after being disturbed from that position. When an aircraft experiences a disturbance, whether from turbulence or a control input, if it has positive static stability, it will generate forces that work to bring it back to its equilibrium state. This can be visualized as a ball sitting at the bottom of a bowl; when pushed, it will move away from the center but tends to return to that center position.

In contrast, static stability does not address how the aircraft behaves over time after the disturbance, which relates to dynamic stability, nor does it consider the effectiveness of controls during turbulent conditions. While all aspects of stability are important in understanding the overall behavior of an aircraft, static stability specifically focuses on that immediate return tendency to a set flight attitude without factoring in long-term movements or control effectiveness.