Use of feedforward can alleviate feedback and adaptive actions. Feedforward signals can be generated from reference models and the same models can also be used as reference models in adaptive control. A method for designing the reference models is presented in the paper. By exploiting the structure of the equations describing air vehicles it is possible to find reference models that scale to the present flight condition and vehicle configuration. Such reference systems are derived for flying vehicles in a generic manner, suitable for both winged aircraft and missiles. The same type of reference systems are also used to create trajectories for feedforward signals that compensate known plant non-linearities.Nomenclature v = vehicle velocity vector, with vector elements u, v and w = vehicle angular velocity vector, with vector elements p, q and r V = airspeed, the norm of the velocity vector = angle of attack = angle of sideslip m, I i = mass and mass inertia tensor F , M = force and moment acting on vehicle = density of air at the vehicle altitude S, b, c = reference area and reference lengths, related to aerodynamic properties of the vehicle a , e , r = control surface deflections, aileron, elevator, rudder L = state-feedback gain H m (s) = desired transfer function from plant input to output K g = steady state inverse gain of desired transfer function from plant input to output