Article
Article
- Engineering & Materials
- Aeronautical engineering
- Flight controls
Flight controls
Article By:
Phillips, William H. Langley Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, Virginia.
Arbuckle, P. Douglas Langley Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, Virginia.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.260900
- Cockpit controls
- Types of control systems
- Digital flight control computers
- Handling qualities
- Active controls
- Automatic flight controls
- Flight management
- Related Primary Literature
- Additional Reading
The devices and systems which govern the attitude of an aircraft and, as a result, the flight path followed by the aircraft. Flight controls are classified as primary flight controls, auxiliary flight controls, and automatic controls. In the case of many conventional airplanes, the primary flight controls utilize hinged, trailing-edge surfaces called elevators for pitch, ailerons for roll, and the rudder for yaw (Fig. 1). These surfaces are operated by the human pilot in the cockpit or by an automatic pilot. In the case of vertically rising aircraft, a lift control is provided. See also: Aileron; Aircraft rudder; Elevator (aircraft); Elevon
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