What are purposes of elevators in an aircraft?

Question

People, I do know what is it for and its function, but I have to do a page report of "What are purposes of elevators in an aircraft?" and I ran out of things to say, thus I asked Yahoo! Answers for some help.

Lol, "Mattydo". What I meant by "elevators in an airplane", I meant the flight control elevator not the elevator that takes you up and down.

Answer 1

The elevators generally serve two purposes in controlling an airplane.

1. The elevators modify the net angle of attack of the horizontal tail surfaces, thus adjusting the pitch (nose up/down) angle of the airplane's line of flight. This in turn adjusts the angle of attack of the airplane's wing.

Increasing the angle of attack, up to a point, increases the amount of lift produced by the wings, and causes the airplane to climb. Reducing the angle of attack causes the airplane to descend.

If you make more than a very slight change in the pitch angle, you will also have to add or decrease power to maintain airspeed within the correct limits.

2. The elevators are also used to correct for the loss of lift that occurs in a turn. Contrary to what appears obvious, the airplane is not steered with the rudder, but by using the ailerons to roll the airplane to the left or right. Rolling the airplane produces a "moment of lift," or a fraction of the wing's lift shifted to the left or the right.

The turning moment that results from rolling also drags the airplane somewhat sideways, causing what is called a "skid." Correct for the skid by applying some rudder to push the tail into a curved path.

Because in a roll a portion of the lift is diverted to the right or the left, a portion is lost of the vertical lift that is holding the airplane up. Correct for the loss of lift by applying a bit of up elevator in the turn. When you are doing your primary training, you will learn to coordinate roll, rudder, and elevator to make a smooth turn without losing or gaining altitude. This is one of the basic skills you will demonstrate on the checkride for your license.

I hope that is enough keystrokes to add a little something to your paper.

Answer 2

To answer your question lets get an understanding of the aircraft flight control systems. The empennage is also called the tail section and most aircraft designs consist of a tail cone, fixed surfaces, and movable surfaces. Roll, pitch, and yaw-the motions an aircraft makes about its longitudinal, lateral, and vertical axes-are controlled by three control surfaces.

The tail cone serves to close and streamline the aft end of most fuselages. The cone is made up of structural members like those of the fuselage; however, cones are usually of lighter construction since they receive less stress than the fuselage.

Other components of the typical empennage are of heavier construction than the tail cone. These members include fixed surfaces that help steady the aircraft and movable surfaces that help to direct an aircraft's flight. The fixed surfaces are the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The movable surfaces are usually a rudder and elevators.

The directional control of a fixed-wing aircraft takes place around the lateral, longitudinal, and vertical axes by means of flight control surfaces. These control devices are hinged or movable surfaces through which the attitude of an aircraft is controlled during takeoff, flight, and landing. They are usually divided into two major groups, the primary or main, and the auxiliary control surfaces.

The primary group of flight control surfaces consists of ailerons, elevators, and rudders. Ailerons are attached to the trailing edge of both wings of an aircraft. Elevators are attached to the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer. The rudder is hinged to the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer.

The axes of an aircraft Roll is produced by the ailerons, which are located at the trailing edges of the wings. Pitch is affected by the elevators, the rear portion of the horizontal tail assembly. Yaw is controlled by the rudder, the rear portion of the vertical tail assembly.

The ailerons and elevators are generally operated from the cockpit by a control stick on single-engine aircraft and by a wheel and yoke assembly on multi-engine aircraft. The rudder is operated by foot pedals on all types of aircraft.

Elevators are the movable control surfaces that cause this rotation. They are normally hinged to the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer.

The elevators are used to make the aircraft climb or dive and also to obtain sufficient lift from the wings to keep the aircraft in level flight at various speeds.

The elevators can be moved either up or down. If the elevator is rotated up, it decreases the lift force on the tail causing the tail to lower and the nose to rise. If the elevator is rotated downward, it increases the lift force on the tail causing it to rise and the nose to lower. Lowering the aircraft's nose increases forward speed, and raising the nose decreases forward speed.

Some aircraft use a movable horizontal surface called a stabilator. The stabilator serves the same purpose as the horizontal stabilizer and elevator combined. When the cockpit control is moved, the complete stabilator is moved to raise or lower the leading edge, thus changing the angle of attack and the amount of lift on the tail surfaces.

Answer 3

rudder - moves the airplane left or right in a lateral (side to side) motion, also called YAW. Ailerons - bank the airplane to the left or right, also called ROLL Elevator, raises or lowers the nose of the aircraft to increase/decrease altitude, also called PITCH. flaps increase lift to get a shorter takeoff roll and help land the aircraft by reducing it's stall speed, the speed at which a plane's wings cannot generate lift. note that flaps do not do any part in helping the aircraft. turn, the Rudder, Elevators (as you do lose altitude when turning, also helps the aircraft turn more quickly by raising the nose slightly) and Ailerons do that job.

Answer 4

hehehe again people don't get it =P Sheesh look in the cat before you answer!

Yes, it is to make the airplane go up an down. It's a bit more complex than that, involving many control surfaces. It has many uses such as:

-Keeping level

-Keeping altitude in a turn (you must stop the plane from sinking in a turn by adding backpressure) (pulling back on the stick).

-Increasing turn rate (if you add back pressure in a turn you not only can keep altitude, but you can also make your turn faster and smaller)

-To scare the crap out of everyone when you pull back really hard...

Answer 5

Elevators in an aircraft, this is a real easy one. They are for very rich and lazy people. Come on, an airplane(even the biggest ones) do not have enough walking space to tire anyone out. So they are for the laziest of lazy.

Answer 6

It is for pitching the aircraft about its lateral axis. It can be deflected to change attitude, altitude, angle of attack, airspeed, angle of climb, rate of climb, or rate of turn.

Answer 7

Push the elevator forward, houses get bigger. Pull it back, houses get smaller.

Answer 8

Basically, it adjust the nose up/down (pitch) AOA (Angle Of Attack).
Ailerons adjust roll
Rudder adjust yaw

Answer 9

Elevator in Aircraft - Lift packages, bulk items, sometimes disabled persons. Not for athletes like us.

Answer 10

They are used to make the plane climb or descend in altitude.