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Airplane Parts Activity
If so instructed by your teacher, print out a worksheet page for these problems


Background: Click here to go to airplane parts definitions site.


 

  Airplane Parts

Ailerons control the roll of an airplane.

Elevators control the pitch (the up and down motion) of an airplane.

Flaps are deployed when the plane is landing or taking off.

The rudder controls the yaw (side to side motion) of an airplane.

Roll is a blanking turn of an airplane. A roll to the right is accomplished by having the right aileron up and the left aileron down. A roll to the left would have the left aileron up and the right aileron down.

Pitch is the up and down motion of an airplane. To climb, the elevators are put in the up position. This pushes the tail down and the nose up. To dive, the elevators are put in the down position. This pushes the tail up and the nose down.

Yaw is the side-to-side motion of an airplane. To cause an airplane to yaw to the right, the rudder is deployed to the right. This pushes the tail to the left and the nose to the right. To cause an airplane to yaw to the left, the rudder is deployed to the left. This pushes the tail to the right and the nose to the left.

 

Problems:

  1. Identify each airplane part in the figure below by writing the number that corresponds to the part.

    Ailerons ______ Elevators ______ Flaps _______ Rudders ________

    Airplane parts: click on image for detailed description
  2. From the figure above, identify the part that controls or is used to:

    Climb ______ Yaw ______ Roll ______ Dive ______ Landing ______ Pitch ______ Take off ______

     

  3. Describe exactly what is happening in each figure.

Both flaps are down

1)

Both elevators are up

2)

The right aileron is up and the left aileron is down

 

3)

The rudder is yawing left

4)

The rudder is yawing right

5)

Both elevators are down

6)

The right aileron is down and the left aileron is up

7)

 


Related Pages:
Standards
Worksheet
Lesson Index
Aerodynamics Index

 

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Editor: Tom Benson
NASA Official: Tom Benson
Last Updated: Thu, May 13 02:38:26 PM EDT 2021

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