Flying Magazine

JULY 22, 2025

King noted that Epic focuses on stick-and-rudder skills to the point that the first time in the airplane the pilot uses absolutely none of the automation. Steering with the rudder pedals is direct and effective—brakes are only required for the tightest turns. Prior to takeoff, the rudder trim is set from 50 to 100 percent to the right.

Rudder

Plane and Pilot

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Flight controls mean ailerons, elevator, and rudder, of course, but on some airplanes, if the trim is mis-set, the plane might be difficult or impossible to control. On my relatively high powered Vans RV-9A , flaps are not a critical item, unless the runway is short. Flight controls and engine controls are the obvious ones.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

JULY 2, 2025

We want to clear that 200-foot pine tree off the end of the runway by going up, not moving rapidly toward it, so flying at V X , found close to stalling speed but still well away from it, is our best option. Putting your right foot on the rudder pedal and neutralizing the ailerons cancels the drag and the VS1 goes up a little more.

Descent

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 26, 2025

You will still have full aileron control by moving your arm side to side, and you’ll have brakes too.” Gillespie traffic, Jabiru 570BL departing Runway 14, Gillespie,” I announced on frequency. With more of a “mush” than a stall, I moved the ailerons to the left and right and still had complete control.

Aileron

Inflight Pilot Training

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Your instructor will introduce you to the basic components of the aircraft, including the fuselage, wings, ailerons, rudder, elevator, and landing gear. In addition to learning about the aircraft itself, you will also review airport procedures, runway markings, and basic safety guidelines.

Aileron

Pilot's Life Blog

JANUARY 12, 2025

Aircraft Controls: Primary ControlsAilerons, Elevators, Rudder The three primary flight controls ailerons , elevators, and rudderare essential for piloting an aircraft. Ailerons, located on the wings, control the plane’s roll. The rudder, also on the tail, adjusts yaw, which affects left and right turns.

Aileron

Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

Use ailerons and rudder together to maintain coordinated flight. Pilots glide from a point abeam the runway, turning 180° to land on a specific spot without throttle. Confirm glide distance, then prepare for the base turn once aligned, using visual references to ensure you’ll reach the runway.

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

JULY 22, 2025

Well, it was a combination of just doing it and learning to use my peripheral vision to judge my relative location on the runway and height above the ground,” I replied. Noting the tailwheel was indeed unlocked, I moved my foot to the top of the rudder pedals to ensure the brakes were operating as normal. asked Finkbeiner.

Runway

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 25, 2025

Landing the 727 at Meigs Field would be a challenge, as the runway there was just 3,900-feet (1,200 m), but the airline had a capable crew to take N7017U on its final flight, with Captain B.C. After a low pass for the public and the press that had gathered to watch, Captain Thomas made the approach on runway 36 north.

Cockpit

Inflight Pilot Training

MARCH 13, 2025

Example of a Proper Radio Call: Minneapolis Ground, Cessna 172, N12345 at Inflight Aviation, ready to taxi to Runway 12 for departure. Struggling with Crosswind Landings The Mistake: Many student pilots struggle with crosswind landings due to incorrect rudder use or improper control inputs.

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Like most homebuilts and many SLSAs, the RV-12 steers on the ground via differential braking, but the good-sized rudder does contribute if you have a bit of wind. On the walkaround, you doubtlessly noted the full-span flaperons (flaps plus ailerons as one unit). Right until liftoff, takeoffs are fairly uneventful.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

MAY 3, 2025

Depressions in the vertical stabilizer and rudder, as well as stabilator skins and ailerons, all help increase panel stiffness while allowing less under-skin structure. At least the Cherokee gave the pilot a better view of the runway from the patternno wing in the wayand lacked the high-wing Cessnas pitch change with flap deployment.

Approach

Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

Skills Developed: It enhances coordination and control precision, forcing students to make small, deliberate inputs on the yoke and rudder. Proper pitch, power management, and alignment with the runway are emphasized. Techniques like the crab method or wing-low method help maintain runway alignment and control.

Pilot

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

Lets break down the main control surfaces and how they use action-reaction: Ailerons Ailerons are flaps placed on the wings trailing edges. They work in opposite pairs: when one aileron goes up, the other goes down. The raised aileron on the right wing deflects airflow upward ( action ). This is where the rudder comes in.

Torque

Aerotime

APRIL 3, 2025

. | Season 7, Episode 5: 'Operation Babylift' | : 2 December 2009 pic.twitter.com/W9hcTj7kSK — Air Crash Investigation (@AirCrash_) April 4, 2022 According to the BAAA, two of the aircrafts four hydraulic systems were out of order and control, and trim cables to the rudder and elevators were severed.

Aileron

WayMan

MAY 25, 2025

Wings also include movable surfaces like ailerons (used to roll the plane left or right) and flaps (used to increase lift at lower speeds, especially during takeoff and landing). The rudder helps control yaw (left or right movement of the nose), while the elevator manages pitch (up or down movement of the nose).

Lift

Pilot Institute

APRIL 22, 2025

In the traffic pattern, youll need to ensure that you maintain a course in relation to the runway. In the traffic pattern, this is the runway. Use coordinated aileron and rudder pressures to swiftly, but not excessively, angle into this turn. Uncoordinated use of aileron and rudder, leading to slips or skids.

Crosswind

Pilot Institute

MAY 8, 2025

Instead of rolling on wheels, the aircrafts underside makes direct contact with the runway. Depending on your options, you may be forced to land on a runway, a field, or even water. Foreign Object Damage (FOD) Runway debris can damage landing gear mechanisms during takeoff or landing. Thats why its called a belly landing.

Air Traffic Control

Flying Magazine

JUNE 30, 2025

Ailerons are actuated by pushrods that run through the wing struts, reducing aerodynamic drag and giving the responsive ailerons a solid feel. There are gap seals between the elevator and horizontal stabilizer, and the rudder and vertical stabilizer. Full flaps are used for normal landings and 16 degrees for takeoffs.

Gross Weight

Aerotime

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock Once the pushback is complete and the engines are running, the crew will contact ATC again for taxi clearance, effectively asking the tower for the route they are required to follow and which taxiways to use to reach the active runway.

Cabin Crew

Northstar VFR

JULY 21, 2024

More right rudder!!” The airplane rudder is one of the most misunderstood of the primary flight controls. Yet the rudder is one of the most important and one of the most under-utilized. The rudder’s most important function is controlling the yaw of the aircraft, which moves the nose of the plane left and right.

Rudder

Air Facts

MAY 24, 2024

We started up the engine, got the weather, asked the tower for our instrument flight plan, and began to taxi from the T-hangars on the east side of the field down the familiar route of “Hotel, Echo” to runway 18 right for a departure to the north with a turn to the east. Destin Tower told me to expect a right base for a landing on Runway 12.

Aileron

Photographic Logbook

MAY 19, 2025

Don walked me through engine start and within minutes of bringing the fuel-injected 180 horsepower Lycoming to life, we were taxiing from the 700 Ramp to the departure end of runway 25. Compared to the J-3, I found the rudder of the Decathlon to be significantly heavier, which reduced the crispness of some of my turns. He was right.

Rudder

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Although it is sort of heavy on the ailerons,” Storo said. At that point, you’re simply looking down the runway, and then it lifts off. You just make one great big U-turn, that way you can kind of watch the runway the whole time. It’s the rudder that is doing everything.

Crosswind

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

I watched the stick flutter to and fro in sync with the rudder pedals as Wilkins fought to maintain the centerline, all the while pushing in the throttle. The little plane leapt into the air almost immediately as the wind seemingly swirled from every direction along the 5,000-foot runway. The remainder of our flight would follow U.S.

Runway

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 23, 2025

Once we were ready, we started up, and the instructor radioed the tower before taxiing to the runway. Taxiing procedures: Moving the aircraft to the runway involves steering with your feet using the rudder pedals. Ground operations Before takeoff, youll learn how to operate the aircraft on the ground.

Rudder

Photographic Logbook

FEBRUARY 2, 2025

Over the last three years, The Bear has expressed great interest in visiting Alton Bay, the only FAA-authorized ice runway in the continental United States. A very brief 2022 season for the ice runway eliminated opportunities to return that year. I pointed to the ice runway as we cleared terrain hiding it. There it is!"

Runway

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

The 172 has a steerable nosewheel, much heavier than the rudders on my RV-9A with a castering nosewheel. There was a nice crosswind, and I demonstrated landing on a concrete expansion joint, offset from the runway centerline. Then off to the other runway for a full stop. I could tell that this had the CFI’s full attention.

Pitot Tube

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 4, 2024

The worst time to find out how the plane handles fully loaded is when it has a full complement of your loved ones, the air is gusty, the runway is short, you’re feeling only kind of OK, and stress factors are starting to get out of hand. Every now and again, planes go off the side of the runway. Why might that be? Hopefully not.

Crosswind

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

I called Lawson Tower and was cleared for taxi and mid-runway takeoff on Runway 15. I then checked all the controls, elevator up and down, ailerons right and left, rudder right and left. I checked the instruments, and all were in the green. I sat for a few moments listening to the engine. I then did my run-up.

Descent

Pilot's Life Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Control Mechanisms Airplane Controls In airplanes, pilots manage flight using three primary controls: the ailerons, elevator, and rudder. Ailerons, located on the wings, control roll by increasing lift on one wing while decreasing it on the other, allowing the aircraft to bank left or right.

Torque

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

You can only begin improving the touchdown if you’ve mastered positioning your aircraft above the runway threshold correctly. For example, if you fly a high-wing aircraft such as a Cessna 172, you can use the point where the runway cuts the wing strut as a reference. See if the runway appears to move relative to the windshield.

Descent

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 16, 2024

But landing it safely on the runway is a skill. Brief that you will use the right rudder to align the aircraft straight with the runway and the left aileron to counteract drift. If you aren’t in alignment with the runway at 500 ft or are off speed or profile, go around. Brief the runway conditions.

Airplanes

Flight Training Central

DECEMBER 4, 2023

Add full flaps and establish recommended soft-field approach speed on final, approximately 1/2 mile from the runway. Adjust pitch and power for the desired airspeed and approach angle.The approach should be stabilized on the extended runway centerline no lower than 300’ AGL.

Approach

Pilot Institute

MAY 4, 2024

Not only must you fly unnervingly slow, but you also have to pick a spot on the runway and hit it. It’s a runway that is too short for a normal takeoff or landing but still usable with certain precautions. This allows them to safely operate into and out of these tight runways. You’re not alone.

Weight-Shift-Control

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

While instructors idly watch, airplanes go off the runway, landings become too harsh, structure gets overstressed, and tolerances are exceeded. No flying in winds exceeding 10 knots, no chance of obscuring precipitation, no use of runways shorter than 5,000 feet, no risk of encountering darkness or lowering ceilings.

Wind Shear

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

While instructors idly watch, airplanes go off the runway, landings become too harsh, structure gets overstressed, and tolerances are exceeded. No flying in winds exceeding 10 knots, no chance of obscuring precipitation, no use of runways shorter than 5,000 feet, no risk of encountering darkness or lowering ceilings.

Wind Shear