How to Steer a Plane

A plane in flight moves around three different axes: the lateral, the vertical and the longitudinal. The movements around these axes are called pitch, yaw, and roll. As a result there are three control surfaces on a plane that control its movement around these three axes. These are the elevator, the rudder, and the ailerons. The pilot steers a plane by coordinating the movement of these surfaces to climb, descend or turn.

Instructions

  1. Control Surfaces

    • 1

      Look at the tail of an airplane. The elevator is the moveable section of the horizontal part of the tail that controls movement around the lateral axis. The lateral axis runs from wing tip to wing tip. To steer in an upward motion, or climb, maneuver the controls to make the elevator go up. When the elevator is up, aerodynamics cause the tail of the plane to go down and the nose to go up. To descend, maneuvers the controls so that the elevator goes down, the tail goes up, and the nose goes down. In a stick and rudder aircraft, pull the stick back to make the nose go up, and push the stick forward to make the nose go down.

    • 2

      Look at the vertical part of the tail of an airplane. The moveable section of this section of the plane is the rudder, which is used to control movement around the vertical axis. The vertical axis goes through the point where an aircraft would balance if it were hanging from the ceiling by a string. To yaw around this axis, or make the nose go from the right to the left or left to right in level flight, use the rudder. When the rudder is pushed to the right, the tail of the airplane goes to the left and the nose of the airplane goes in the opposite direction. When the rudder is pushed to the left, the tail of the airplane goes to the right and the nose goes to the left. In all aircraft, push the right rudder to go right and the left rudder to go left.

    • 3

      Watch a plane in flight and see how one wing goes up and one goes down in a turn. You will also see a section of the wing either sticking up or down from the wing. Movement around the longitudinal axis is controlled by these movable sections of the wing called ailerons. In a stick-and-rudder aircraft, push the stick to the right to make the right aileron go up and the left aileron go down. This makes air pressure push the right wing down, the left wing up and make the aircraft roll around its longitudinal axis to the right. To roll to the left, push the stick to the left to make the left aileron go up and the right aileron go down.

    • 4

      Coordinate these controls in flight to steer the plane. Each control surface works with the others to make the plane go where the pilot wants it to go. Rarely is any control surface used in isolation from the others. For example, in a turn, coordinate the use of the ailerons to put the aircraft in a roll by moving the wings up or down. Have the rudder move the nose in the direction of the turn, and the elevators to keep the aircraft level during the maneuver.