Secondary effects of controls[edit]

Ailerons[edit]
Main article: Adverse yaw
The ailerons primarily control roll. Whenever lift is increased, induced dra is also
increased. When the stic! is moved left to roll the aircraft to the left, the riht aileron is
lowered which increases lift on the riht win and therefore increases induced dra on the
riht win. "sin ailerons causes adverse yaw, meanin the nose of the aircraft yaws in
a direction opposite to the aileron application. When movin the stic! to the left to #an!
the wins, adverse yaw moves the nose of the aircraft to the riht. Adverse yaw is more
pronounced for liht aircraft with lon wins, such as liders. $t is counteracted #y the
pilot with the rudder. %ifferential ailerons are ailerons which have #een ried such that
the downoin aileron deflects less than the upward&movin one, reducin adverse yaw.
'udder[edit]
The rudder is a fundamental control surface, typically controlled #y pedals rather than at
the stic!. $t is the primary means of controllin yaw&&the rotation of an airplane a#out its
vertical a(is. The rudder may also #e called upon to counter&act the adverse yaw
produced #y the roll&control surfaces.
$f rudder is continuously applied in level fliht the aircraft will yaw initially in the
direction of the applied rudder ) the primary effect of rudder. After a few seconds the
aircraft will tend to #an! in the direction of yaw.
This arises initially from the increased speed of the win opposite to the direction of yaw
and the reduced speed of the other win. The faster win enerates more lift and so rises,
while the other win tends to o down #ecause of eneratin less lift. *ontinued
application of rudder sustains rollin tendency #ecause the aircraft flyin at an anle to
the airflow & s!iddin towards the forward win. When applyin riht rudder in an
aircraft with dihedral the left hand win will have increased anle of attac! and the riht
hand win will have decreased anle of attac! which will result in a roll to the riht. An
aircraft with anhedral will show the opposite effect. This effect of the rudder is
commonly used in model aircraft where if sufficient diheral or polyhedral is included in
the win desin, primary roll control such as ailerons may #e omitted altoether.
Turnin the aircraft[edit]
Main article: +an!ed turn
"nli!e turnin a #oat, turnin an aircraft is not normally done with the rudder. With
aircraft, the turn is caused #y the hori,ontal component of lift. The liftin force,
perpendicular to the wins of the aircraft, is tilted in the direction of the intended turn #y
rollin the aircraft into the turn. As the #an! anle is increased, the liftin force, which
was previously actin only in the vertical, is split into two components: -ne actin
vertically and one actin hori,ontally.
$f the total lift is !ept constant, the vertical component of lift will decrease. As the weiht
of the aircraft is unchaned, this would result in the aircraft descendin if not countered.
To maintain level fliht re.uires increased positive /up0 elevator to increase the anle of
attac!, increase the total lift enerated and !eep the vertical component of lift e.ual with
the weiht of the aircraft. This cannot continue indefinitely. The wins can only enerate
a finite amount of lift at a iven air speed. As the load factor /commonly called 1
loadin0 is increased an accelerated aerodynamic stall will occur, even thouh the
aircraft is a#ove its 21 stall speed.
The total lift /load factor0 re.uired to maintain level fliht is directly related to the #an!
anle. This means that for a iven airspeed, level fliht can only #e maintained up to a
certain iven anle of #an!. +eyond this anle of #an!, the aircraft will suffer an
accelerated stall if the pilot attempts to enerate enouh lift to maintain level fliht.
Alternate main control surfaces[edit]
Some aircraft confiurations have non&standard primary controls. 3or e(ample instead of
elevators at the #ac! of the sta#ili,ers, the entire tailplane may chane anle. Some
aircraft have a tail in the shape of a 4, and the movin parts at the #ac! of those
com#ine the functions of elevators and rudder. %elta win aircraft may have 5elevons5
at the #ac! of the win, which com#ine the functions of elevators and ailerons.
%evelopment[edit]
The Wriht #rothers are credited with developin the first practical control surfaces. $t is
a main part of their patent on flyin.[2] "nli!e modern control surfaces, they used win
warpin.[6] $n an attempt to circumvent the Wriht patent, 1lenn *urtiss made hined
control surfaces. 7ined control surfaces have the advantae of not causin stresses that
are a pro#lem of win warpin and are easier to #uild into structures.
A(es of motion[edit]
Main article: Aircraft principal a(es

'otation around the

three a(es
An aircraft is free to rotate around three a(es that are perpendicular to each other and
intersect at its center of ravity /*10. To control position and direction a pilot must #e
a#le to control rotation a#out each of them.
8ateral a(is[edit]
The lateral a(is passes throuh an aircraft from wintip to wintip. 'otation a#out this
a(is is called pitch. 9itch chanes the vertical direction that the aircraft:s nose is pointin.
The elevators are the primary control surfaces for pitch.
8onitudinal a(is[edit]
The lonitudinal a(is passes throuh the aircraft from nose to tail. 'otation a#out this
a(is is called roll. 'ollin motion chanes the orientation of the aircraft:s wins with
respect to the downward force of ravity. The pilot chanes #an! anle #y increasin the
lift on one win and decreasin it on the other. This differential lift causes #an! rotation
around the lonitudinal a(is. The ailerons are the primary control of #an!. The rudder
also has a secondary effect on #an!.
4ertical a(is[edit]
The vertical a(is passes throuh an aircraft from top to #ottom. 'otation a#out this a(is is
called yaw. ;aw chanes the direction the aircraft:s nose is pointin, left or riht. The
primary control of yaw is with the rudder. Ailerons also have a secondary effect on yaw.
$t is important to note that these a(es move with the aircraft, and chane relative to the
earth as the aircraft moves. 3or e(ample, for an aircraft whose left win is pointin
straiht down, its 5vertical5 a(is is parallel with the round, while its 5lateral5 a(is is
perpendicular to the round.
Main control surfaces[edit]
The main control surfaces of a fi(ed&win aircraft are attached to the airframe on hines
or trac!s so they may move and thus deflect the air stream passin over them. This
redirection of the air stream enerates an un#alanced force to rotate the plane a#out the
associated a(is.

3liht control surfaces of +oein <6<

Ailerons[edit]
Main article: Aileron

Aileron surface
Ailerons are mounted on the trailin ede of each win near the wintips and move in
opposite directions. When the pilot moves the stic! left, or turns the wheel counter&
cloc!wise, the left aileron oes up and the riht aileron oes down. A raised aileron
reduces lift on that win and a lowered one increases lift, so movin the stic! left causes
the left win to drop and the riht win to rise. This causes the aircraft to roll to the left
and #ein to turn to the left. *enterin the stic! returns the ailerons to neutral maintainin
the #an! anle. The aircraft will continue to turn until opposite aileron motion returns
the #an! anle to ,ero to fly straiht.
=levator[edit]
Main article: =levator /aircraft0
An elevator is a movea#le part of the hori,ontal sta#ili,er, hined to the #ac! of the
fi(ed part of the hori,ontal tail. The elevators move up and down toether. When the pilot
pulls the stic! #ac!ward, the elevators o up. 9ushin the stic! forward causes the
elevators to o down. 'aised elevators push down on the tail and cause the nose to pitch
up. This ma!es the wins fly at a hiher anle of attac!, which enerates more lift and
more dra. *enterin the stic! returns the elevators to neutral and stops the chane of
pitch. Many aircraft use a fully movea#le hori,ontal sta#ili,er called sta#ilator or all&
movin tail. Some aircraft, such as an M%&>?, use a servo ta# within the elevator
surface to aerodynamically move the main surface into position. The direction of travel of
the control ta# will thus #e in a direction opposite to the main control surface. $t is for this
reason that an M%&>? tail loo!s li!e it has a :split: elevator system.
$n the canard arranement, the elevators are hined to the rear of a foreplane and move
in the opposite sense, for e(ample when the pilot pulls the stic! #ac! the elevators o
down to increase the lift at the front and lift the nose up.