Text 2. Flight Control System

In order to control the airplane while in flight it is necessary to equip it with movable control surfaces or airfoils. The airfoils designed to be moved by the pilot in order to change the attitude of the airplane during flight are known as primary and secondary control surfaces. By "attitude" is meant the angular position of the airplane in relation to the horizontal plane and the vertical plane.

The primary group includes ailerons, elevators and rudder. They serve to change the attitude of the aircraft about the vertical, lateral and longitudinal axes.

The axis that runs from the nose to the tail of an airplane is the longitudinal axis, and the rotation about this axis is called «roll». The axis that runs from one wing tip to the other wing tip is the lateral axis, the rotation about this axis is called «pitch». The axis, which runs vertically about the aircraft, is called the vertical axis and the rotation about it is called «yaw».

Ailerons are movable surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing, near the wing tips. Ailerons help to bank the airplane, that is, they control the roll, or movement around the longitudinal axis. Ailerons are so connected that when the aileron on one wing is turned up, the aileron on the other wing automatically goes down. If the pilot wants to roll to the right, he moves the stick to the right or turns the wheel to the right and the right aileron goes up and at the same time the left ailerons goes down increasing the lift on the left side, thereby assisting in the roll action to the right.

The elevators arc movable airfoils. They are attached to the trailing edge of the tail's horizontal stabilizer. The elevators control the pitch, that is, the rotation about the pitch axis. They can deflect downwards and upwards. To cause the airplane to climb it is necessary to deflect elevators upwards. When the elevators are lowered the airplane begins to descend.

The rudder is a movable part attached to the trailing edge the tail's vertical fin, and is designed to control the aircraft yawing action around the vertical axis. The rudder can be deflected to the right or to the left or lie in a line with the fin. If it is necessary to turn the airplane to the left the rudder is pushed to the left and vice versa.

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Exercise 11.Read and translate the text.	\|	Exercise 12. Answer the questions on text 2 «Flight Control System».

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