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Aircraft flight controls allow a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude.
Development of an effective set of flight controls was a critical advance in the development of the aircraft. Early efforts at fixed-wing aircraft design succeeded in generating sufficient lift to get the aircraft off the ground, but once aloft, the aircraft proved uncontrollable, often with disastrous results. The development of effective flight controls is what allowed stable flight.
This article describes controls used on a fixed wing aircraft of conventional design. Other fixed wing aircraft configurations may use different control surfaces but the basic principles remain. The controls for rotary wing aircraft (helicopter or autogyro) are completely different. Link title For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ...
Modern Autogyro, ELA-07, Casarrubios del Monte Airfield, Spain, 2004. ...
Axes of motion
Rotation around the three axes An aircraft is free to rotate around three axes which are perpendicular to each other and intersect at the plane's center of gravity (CG). To control position and direction a pilot must be able to control rotation about each of them. Flight dynamics. ...
Flight dynamics. ...
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...
Vertical axis The vertical axis passes through the plane from top to bottom. Rotation about this axis is called yaw. Yaw changes the direction the aircraft's nose is pointing, left or right. The primary control of yaw is with the rudder. Ailerons also have a secondary effect on yaw.
Plane control and motion. Image File history File links ControlSurfaces. ...
Longitudinal axis The longitudinal axis passes through the plane from nose to tail. Rotation about this axis is called bank or roll. Bank changes the orientation of the aircraft's wings with respect to the downward force of gravity. The pilot changes bank angle by increasing the lift on one wing and decreasing it on the other. This differential lift causes bank rotation around the longitudinal axis. The ailerons are the primary control of bank. The rudder also has a secondary effect on bank.
Lateral axis The lateral axis passes through the plane from wingtip to wingtip. Rotation about this axis is called pitch. Pitch changes the vertical direction the aircraft's nose is pointing. The elevators are the primary control of pitch.
It is important to note that these axes move with the aircraft, and change relative to the earth as the aircraft moves. For example, for an aircraft whose left wing is pointing straight down, its "vertical" axis is parallel with the ground, while its "lateral" axis is perpendicular to the ground.
BMI Airbus A320, showing position of aileron, flap and slat flight controls. Click on the picture to read the labels more clearly | | | Download high resolution version (750x941, 140 KB)BMI Airbus A321-200 (G-MIDS) landing at London (Heathrow) Airport. ...
Download high resolution version (750x941, 140 KB)BMI Airbus A321-200 (G-MIDS) landing at London (Heathrow) Airport. ...
bmi is a scheduled airline based in the United Kingdom. ...
The Airbus A320 is a short-to-medium range commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus. ...
Download high resolution version (600x684, 89 KB)The tail of a Lufthansa Airbus A319 in flight. ...
Download high resolution version (600x684, 89 KB)The tail of a Lufthansa Airbus A319 in flight. ...
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (ISIN: DE0008232125) (pronounced ) is the largest airline in Germany, and the second-largest in Europe (behind Air France-KLM, but before British Airways). ...
The Airbus A320 is a short to medium range commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus. ...
Main Control Surfaces The main control surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft are attached to the airframe on hinges or tracks so they may move and thus deflect the air stream passing over them. This redirection of the air stream generates an unbalanced force to rotate the plane about the associated axis. This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...
Ailerons Ailerons are mounted on the trailing edge of each wing near the wingtips, and move in opposite directions. When the pilot moves the stick left, or turns the wheel counter-clockwise, the left aileron goes up and the right aileron goes down. A raised aileron reduces lift on that wing and a lowered one increases lift, so moving the stick left causes the left wing to drop and the right wing to rise. This causes the plane to bank left and begin to turn to the left. Centering the stick returns the ailerons to neutral maintaining the bank angle. The plane will continue to turn until opposite aileron motion returns the bank angle to zero to fly straight. Aileron location on a Piper PA-28. ...
Elevator An elevator is mounted on the back edge of the horizontal stabilizer on each side of the fin in the tail. They move up and down together. When the pilot pulls the stick backward, the elevators go up. Pushing the stick forward causes the elevators to go down. Raised elevators push down on the tail and cause the nose to pitch up. This makes the wings fly at a higher angle of attack which generates more lift and more drag. Centering the stick returns the elevators to neutral and stops the change of pitch. Many aircraft use a stabilator — a moveable horizontal stabilizer — in place of an elevator. Some aircraft, such as an MD-80, use a control tab within the elevator surface to aerodynamically backdrive the main surface into position. The direction of travel of the control tab will thus be in a direction opposite to the main control surface. It is for this reason that an MD-80 tail looks like it has a 'split' elevator system. For other meanings of elevator see Elevator (disambiguation). ...
An object falling through a gas or liquid experiences a force in direction opposite to its motion. ...
A glossary of terms used in relation to aircraft, in alphabetical order. ...
The tail of a Lufthansa airliner (Airbus A319) in flight, showing the horizontal and vertical stabilizer Mathematics: see Group action. ...
The Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engined jet airliner, first manufactured in 1965 and, in much modified form and under a succession of different names, still in production today as the Boeing 717. ...
The Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engined jet airliner, first manufactured in 1965 and, in much modified form and under a succession of different names, still in production today as the Boeing 717. ...
Rudder The rudder is typically mounted on the back edge of the fin in the empennage. When the pilot pushes the left pedal, the rudder deflects left. Pushing the right pedal causes the rudder to deflect right. Deflecting the rudder right pushes the tail left and causes the nose to yaw right. Centering the rudder pedals returns the rudder to neutral and stops the yaw. Stern-mounted steering oar of an Egyptian riverboat depicted in the Tomb of Menna (c. ...
Empennage is an aviation term used to describe the tail portion of an aircraft. ...
Control surfaces 1. Winglet 2. Low-Speed Aileron 3. High-Speed Aileron 4. Flap track fairing 5. Krüger flaps 6. Slats 7. Three slotted inner flaps 8. Three slotted outer flaps 9. Spoilers 10. Spoilers- Air brakes Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x968, 218 KB) Summary Author: Piotr Jaworski; PioM EN DE PL Place: POLAND/PoznaÅ„; Date: 10:24, 11 February 2006 (UTC) Description: Plane wing; control surfaces EN: If you want to use my graphic outside Wikipedia, and its resolution or license...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x968, 218 KB) Summary Author: Piotr Jaworski; PioM EN DE PL Place: POLAND/Poznań; Date: 10:24, 11 February 2006 (UTC) Description: Plane wing; control surfaces EN: If you want to use my graphic outside Wikipedia, and its resolution or license...
Rutan VariEze, the first aircraft to use winglets in 1975 Learjet 28/29, the first production jet aircraft to use winglets in 1977 McDonnell Douglas MD-11, the first mainline airliner to feature winglets in 1990 Wingtip devices are usually intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft. ...
For the band with a similar name, see The Ailerons Ailerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. ...
NASA Convair 990 with antishock bodies on the rear of the wings. ...
Slats are small aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of an airplane wing which, when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. ...
The word Flap can refer to several things. ...
This KLM cityhopper Fokker 70 still has its spoilers/airbrakes deployed (the cream-coloured panels projecting above the top surface of the wing) after landing at Bristol International Airport, England. ...
In aeronautics air brakes are a type of flight control used on aircraft to reduce speed during landing. ...
Secondary effects of controls
Ailerons The ailerons primarily control roll. Whenever lift is increased, induced drag is also increased. When the stick is moved left to bank the aircraft to the left, the right aileron is lowered which increases lift on the right wing and therefore increases drag on the right wing. Using ailerons causes adverse yaw, meaning the nose of the aircraft yaws in a direction opposite to the aileron application. When moving the stick to the left to bank the wings, adverse yaw moves the nose of the aircraft to the right. Adverse yaw is more pronounced for light aircraft with long wings, such as gliders. It is counteracted by the pilot with the rudder. Differential ailerons are ailerons which have been rigged such that the downgoing aileron deflects less than the upward-moving one, reducing adverse yaw. In aerodynamics, lift-induced drag, or more simply, induced drag, is a drag force arising from the generation of lift by wings or a lifting body during flight. ...
Adverse yaw (or aileron drag) is a secondary effect of the application of the ailerons in aircraft. ...
Rudder Using the rudder causes one wing to move forward faster than the other. Increased speed means increased lift, and hence rudder use causes a roll effect. Also, since rudders generally extend above the aircraft's center of gravity, a torque is imparted to the aircraft resulting in an adverse bank. Pushing the rudder to the right not only pulls the tail to the left and the nose to the right, but it also "spins" the aircraft as if a left turn were going to be made. Out of all the control inputs, rudder input creates the greatest amount of adverse effect. For this reason ailerons and rudder are generally used together on light aircraft. When turning to the left, the control column is moved left, and adequate left rudder is applied. If too much left rudder is applied the aircraft could enter a skid and then enter a spin. However, rudder inputs are also a good method to alter course in a light aircraft instead of aileron inputs as they free the pilots hands, so he/she can carry out more tasks, or check any navigational charts which are required on a cross country flight. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Turning the aircraft Unlike a boat, turning an aircraft is not normally carried out with the rudder. With aircraft, the turn is caused by the horizontal component of lift. In actual practice, the horizontal component of lift is altered by using the ailerons and rudder in coordinated flight. As the angle of turn or bank angle is increased, less lift is available to support the aircraft. This requires increased elevator to increase the angle of attack and utimately match the lift with the weight to maintain level flight. This process cannot continue indefinitely beyond a certain bank angle (60 degrees in most aircraft). An accelerated aerodynamic stall will occur with excessive bank angle even though the airplane is above its stall speed. Pilots take diligence to limit the bank angle in actual flying practice. In aerodynamics, a stall is a condition in which an excessive angle of attack causes loss of lift due to disruption of airflow. ...
Alternate main control surfaces Some aircraft configurations have non-standard primary controls. For example instead of elevators at the back of the stabilizers, the entire tailplane may change angle. Most supersonic aircraft will have a fully-moving tail. Some aircraft have a tail in the shape of a V, and the moving parts at the back of those combine the functions of elevators and rudder. Delta wing aircraft may have "elevons" at the back of the wing, which combine the functions of elevators and ailerons. A United States Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in transonic flight. ...
The V-tail of a Belgian Air Force Fouga Magister In aircraft, a V-tail (sometimes called a butterfly tail) is an unconventional arrangement of the tail control surfaces that replaces the traditional fin and horizontal surfaces with two surfaces set in a V-shaped configuration when viewed from the...
Elevons at the wing trailing edge are used for pitch and roll control of the F-117A Nighthawk ( best seen by clicking on the picture). ...
Secondary control surfaces
Trim Trimming controls allow a pilot to balance the lift and drag being produced by the wings and control surfaces over a wide range of load and airspeed. This reduces the effort required to adjust or maintain a desired flight attitude. Aircraft attitude is used to mean two closely related aspects of the situation of an aircraft in flight. ...
Elevator trim Elevator trim balances the control force necessary to maintain the aerodynamic down force on the tail. Whilst carrying out certain flight exercises a lot of trim could be required in order to maintain the desired angle of attack. This mainly applies to slow flight, where a lot of trim is required to maintain the nose up attitude. Elevator trim is correlated with the speed of the airflow over the tail, thus airspeed changes to the aircraft require re-trimming. An important design parameter for aircraft is the stability of the aircraft when trimmed for level flight. Any disturbences such as gusts or turbulence will be dampened over a short period of time and the aircraft will return to its level flight trimmed airspeed. Slow flight is a portion of an airplanes performance envelope above the speed at which the plane will stall, but below the speed for best glide. ...
Trimming Tail Plane Except for very light aircraft, trim tabs on elevators are unable to provide the force and range of motion desired. To provide the appropriate trim force the entire horizontal tail plane is made adjustable in pitch. This allows the pilot to select exactly the right amount of positive or negative lift from the tail plane while reducing drag from the elevators.
Control Horn A control horn is a section of control surface which projects ahead of the pivot point. It generates a force which tends to increase the surface's deflection thus reducing the control pressure experienced by the pilot. Control horns may also incorporate a counterweight which helps to balance the control and prevent it from "fluttering" in the airstream. Some designs feature separate anti-flutter weights. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Spring Trim In the simplest cases trimming is done by a mechanical spring (or bungee) which adds appropriate force to augment the pilot's control input. The spring is usually connected to an elevator trim lever to allow the pilot to set the spring force applied. Look up spring in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Bungee may mean: Bungee Jumping, the adventure sport Bungee, the Métis language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
Rudder and Aileron Trim Trim doesn't only apply to the elevator, as there is also trim for the rudder and ailerons. The use of this is to counter the effects of slip stream, or to counter the effects of the centre of gravity being to one side. This can be caused by a larger weight on one side of the aircraft compared to the other, such as when one fuel tank has a lot more fuel in it than the other, or when there are heavier people on one side of the aircraft than the other. For other meanings of elevator see Elevator (disambiguation). ...
In physics, the center of gravity (CoG) of an object is the average location of its weight. ...
Other Controls
KLM Fokker 70, showing position of flap and airbrake/spoiler flight controls.The airbrakes/spoilers are the lifted cream-coloured panels on the wing upper surface (in this picture there are five on the right wing). The flaps are the large drooped surfaces on the trailing edge of the wing KLM Fokker 70 (PH-KZE) landing at Bristol Airport, Bristol, England. ...
KLM Fokker 70 (PH-KZE) landing at Bristol Airport, Bristol, England. ...
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (in full: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, literally Royal Aviation Company; usual English: Royal Dutch Airlines) is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. Prior to its merger with Air France, KLM was the national airline of the Netherlands. ...
Categories: Stub | Dutch airliners 1990-1999 ...
Spoilers On very high lift/low drag aircraft like sailplanes, spoilers are used to disrupt airflow over the wing and greatly reduce the amount of lift. This allows a glider pilot to lose altitude without gaining excessive airspeed. Spoilers are sometimes called "lift dumpers". Spoilers that can be used asymmetrically are called spoilerons and are able to affect an aircraft's roll. Gliders are un-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. ...
This KLM cityhopper Fokker 70 still has its spoilers/airbrakes deployed (the cream-coloured panels projecting above the top surface of the wing) after landing at Bristol International Airport, England. ...
In aeronautics spoilerons are spoilers that can be used asymmetrically to achieve the effect of ailerons, i. ...
Flaps Flaps are mounted on the trailing edge of each wing on the inboard section of each wing (near the wing roots). They are deflected down to increase the effective curvature of the wing and produce additional lift, and also reduce the stalling speed of the wing. They are used during low speed, high angle of attack flight like descent for landing. Some aircraft are equipped with "flapperons," which are more commonly called "inboard ailerons. These devices function primarily as ailerons, but on some aircraft, will "droop" when the flaps are deployed, thus acting as both a flap and an a roll-control inboard aileron. Flaps are hinged surfaces on the trailing edge of an airplane wing which, when deployed, increase the lift (and drag) of a wing by changing the camber of the airfoil. ...
Slats Slats are extensions to the front of a wing for lift augmentation, and are intended to reduce the stalling speed by altering the airflow over the wing. Slats may be fixed or retractable - fixed slats (e.g. as on the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch) give excellent slow speed and STOL capabilities, but compromise higher speed performance. Retractable slats, as on most airliners, allow higher lift on take off, but retract for cruising. Slats are small aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of an airplane wing which, when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. ...
The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (stork) was a small liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II, and production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. ...
STOL is an acronym for Short Take-Off and Landing, a term used in the aircraft industry to describe aeroplanes with very short runway requirements. ...
Air Brakes Air brakes, also called spoilers, are used on high speed aircraft to increase drag and reduce overall lift. On a typical airliner, for example, the spoilers are a series of panels on the upper surface of the wing which deploy upwards to disrupt airflow over the wing, thus adding drag and reducing lift. The number of panels that deploy, as well as the degree to which they deploy, depends on the regime of flight in which they are used. For example, if a pilot must descent quickly without increasing speed, he may select a speed brake setting for the desired effect. In such a case, only certain spoiler panels will deploy to create the most efficient reduction in speed and lift without overstressing the wing. On most airliners, spoiler panels on the mix with aileron inputs to enhance roll control. For example, a left bank will engage the ailerons as well as deploy certain spoiler panels on the down-going wing. Ground spoilers are essentially similar to flight spoilers, except that they deploy upon touchdown on the runway, and include all spoiler panels for maxium "lift dump." After touchdown, the ground spoilers deploy, and "dump" the lift generated by the wings, thus placing the aircraft's weight on the wheels, which accomplish the vast majority of braking after touchdown. Most jet airliners also have a thrust reverser, which simply deflects thrust from the engines forward, helping to slow the aircraft down. In aeronautics air brakes are a type of flight control used on aircraft to reduce speed during landing. ...
KLM Fokker 70 with reverse thrust applied. ...
See also An Aeroplane (Airplane in US usage), is defined as: a power-driven heavier than air Aircraft, deriving its lift chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surface which remain fixed under given conditions of flight. ...
Visual flight is the control of an aircraft by using the view from the aircraft as the primary reference point. ...
Aircraft engine controls provide a means for the pilot to control and monitor the operation of his aircrafts powerplant. ...
Six F-16 Fighting Falcons with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team fly in delta formation in front of the Empire State Building. ...
The V-tail of a Belgian Air Force Fouga Magister In aircraft, a V-tail (sometimes called a butterfly tail) is an unconventional arrangement of the tail control surfaces that replaces the traditional fin and horizontal surfaces with two surfaces set in a V-shaped configuration when viewed from the...
For the band with a similar name, see The Ailerons Ailerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. ...
A flaperon is a type of control surface that combines aspects of both flaps and ailerons. ...
A glossary of terms used in relation to aircraft, in alphabetical order. ...
References - Private Pilot Manual; Jeppesen Sanderson; ISBN 0-88487-238-6 (hardcover, 1999)
External links - A clear explanation of model aircraft flight controls
- See How It Flies By John S. Denker. A new spin on the perceptions, procedures, and principles of flight.
- Semiautonomous Flight Director (SFD) US Patent 6,460,810
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