How does an aeroplane change direcetion?

Question

How is it that an aeroplane maneges to turn, what happens after the steering wheel(or whatever you call it in a plane) is turned what is it inside the aircraft that causes it to turn, like in a car the wheels turn which makes the car turn. But it's in the air so how does it turn?

Answer 1

Normally the wings of an airplane support the plane in the air, by generating lift as they move forward.  They twist the air above the plane downward as they move, and the force required to push air downward as the plane passes through it creates another force that pushes the wings (and the rest of the aircraft) up.

In straight flight, all of the lift from the wings supports the airplane.

When the pilots want to turn, they roll the airplane to one side, so that one wing is higher than the other and the plane is tilted in the direction of the turn.  When this happens, the wings are no longer pushing the plane straight up.  Instead, they are mostly pushing the plane upward, but they are also pushing the plane a little bit sideways, because it is tilted.  This sideways push is what turns the plane.

Since part of the lift from the wings is used to push the airplane sideways in a turn, there is less lift to hold it up.  If the pilots just tilt the plane to turn, the plane will turn, but it will also drift downwards a bit because there is less lift holding the plane up (since part of it is pushing it sideways).  Pilots compensate for this by going slightly faster or by pointing the plane upwards a bit (usually both), so that the wings produce more lift overall. That way there's still just as much lift holding the plane up, which keeps it from drifting downward, and the extra lift left over is used to push the plane to one side in the turn.

To stop the turn, the pilots level the wings again, and all the lift goes into supporting the plane, with none pushing it to one side.  At the same time, they ease up on the throttles and point the plane a little less upward, which reduces the lift (if they don't do this, the plane will start to drift upward as they roll out of the turn).

The whole mechanism is very similar to that of a bicycle or an ice skater leaning into a turn.  Because of the way aircraft turn, you cannot feel them turning when you are inside the plane; instead, it often feels as though you are rising and then dropping again, even though you are actually turning.

Answer 2

It has flaps and a rudder.

Answer 3

The rudder. it's the bit on the sticking up bit at the back ie the tail which turns left or right and steers the plane. When it lands the front nose wheel is used to steer it.

Answer 4

The wheels are fitted with swivels, you can`t see them when the undercarriage is up but they still turn enabling the aircraft to go left or right.

Answer 5

the aileron to alter the bank angle and the rudder to turn the plane

Answer 6

modern aircraft are controlled by computers, the "pilot" sticks the route co-ordinates into the flight management system before they take off, and the plane flies itself, turning whenever it needs to make a course alteration

Answer 7

When an airplane travels fast, the air behaves more like a liquid (which explains why airplanes don't fall out of the sky).

If you think of a rowing boat, it is steered by a tiller or rudder, but also by the action of the oars.  It is similar on a plane and there is the equivalent on the tail of the aircraft as well as the action of the flaps on the wing which help to tilt the aircraft and therefore push against the air in the direction required.

Just as a matter of interest, the height of a plane is mostly controlled by the speed of the engines and not by "moving the wings up and down".

Answer 8

aircrafts use winds and wind currents to steer in the air with the help of their wings they can direct themselves taking advantage of the engine too.

Answer 9

The airplane rolls into a banked attitude.  

Aileron deflection is used to start, control, and stop that rolling.  

When banked, the wing's normal force has a lift component and a lateral component.  

The lateral component causes turning.

Ailerons are for control of roll, not for turning.  When established in a bank the ailerons are neutral, or very nearly so.

Answer 10

With the steering Wheel

Answer 11

When you turn the yoke or stick, Ailerons( movable surfaces on the wings) move upwards or downwards. They are usually interconnected; when one side goes up, the other goes down.

On the side at which the aileron goes up, the chamber is increased and the wing generates more lift. On the other side the chamber is decreased, producing less lift and the aircraft rolls into a turn. A moment is produced in one direction of the longitudinal axis and a turn is started. The rudder is used to coordinate the turn.

I found this animation for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ailer...

The ailerons are connected to the stick either by cables, hydraulics or FBW.

Answer 12

there are flight control devises fitted on the wing and the tail of the airplane, each device give a different movement or direction change, when the pilot move any of these devices then the air flow around the airplane structure hit it and change the direction of the airplane to the opposite direction.

the primary flight control devices are Ailerons which gives the roll movement, Elevator which gives the pitch up or down movement, and the Rudder which gives the direction left or right movement.

there are secondary flight control devices such like Flaps which helps in take off and landing.

all these devices controlled by the pilot by a control coulomb in the cockpit and operated by a complex hydraulic system

Answer 13

It's a combination of flaps, ailerons, and rudder.  The moveable wing sections alter the air flow over the wings, and affect the movement of the craft in the air.

Answer 14

the steering wheel is called a yoke. what helps it turn are moving parts called ailerons. ailerons are moveable surfaces near each wing tip which are controlled by the yoke. when you have to make a right turn, you turn the yoke to the right, when you do so the right aileron goes up and the left aileron goes down. now heres what happens when you do this, when the left aileron goes down in a right turn it creates lift on the left side and now the left side is going up and the right side is going down. at the same time when the right aileron moves up it creates drag and pulls the right side back and thus the plane goes into a turn.

Answer 15

Hydraulics move the flaps which alters the aerodynamics of the plane