The plane has six aircraft motions around these axes: 1) vertical, or up and down; 2) lateral, or left and right; 3) longitudinal, or forward and backward; 4) pitch, or up and down tilting; 5) roll, or left and right tilting; and 6) yaw, or left and right spinning. These motions allow the plane to take off, land and steer.

Controlling a plane is different from driving a car in two ways. First, the accelerator or throttle is located on the control panel on what is comparable to the dash board, and is not a foot pedal on the floor. Second, steering a plane while on the ground is controlled by the foot pedals, not by the stick or steering wheel. Once you are airborne, you use the stick to steer. The foot pedals are also used to brake the plane.

FORWARD - BACK

Please send any comments to:
Curator: Tom.Benson@grc.nasa.gov
Responsible Official: Kathy.Zona@grc.nasa.gov