All airplanes are controlled in 3 axis.
To do this, we have 3 PRIMARY flight controls
- Ailerons (roll)
- Elevator (pitch)
- Rudder (yaw)
Examples of Secondary Flight Controls:
- Flaps
- Trim
Axis of Movement:
The airplane moves about these three axis, and all of these axis meet at one central point which is the CENTER OF GRAVITY.
- Longitudinal axis (long axis from nose to tail, ailerons roll the airplane around this axis)
- Lateral axis (this axis goes wingtip to wingtip, the airplane pitches about this axis controlled by the elevator)
- Vertical axis (a vertical line from the bottom up, the airplane yaws about this axis controlled by the rudder).
