Motion in Flight

PHYSICS OF FLIGHT:

Motions in Flight

Flight controls change the motion of an airplane around three axes. Think of these axes as imaginary lines that are perpendicular to one another and meet at the plane's center of gravity. The motions that relate to these axes are pitch, roll, and yaw.

Pitch describes motion around the lateral axis that causes the nose to "pitch" up or down. Roll describes motion around the longitudinal axis that causes the aircraft to "roll" onto its left or right side. Yaw describes motion around the vertical axis that causes the aircraft to spin or "yaw" to the left or right.

Diagram