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Old November 6th 04, 06:41 PM
Peter Duniho
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"Ramapriya" wrote in message
om...
Unlike the elevators and rudder that change an aircraft's pitch and
yaw with no other secondary effect, why does the banking of wings by
the use of ailerons not just roll an aircraft but also produces a turn
(yaw)?


The simple answer is that, theoretically, the ailerons act exactly as you
would think. That is, a turn is not caused by a change in bank.

A more complicated answer is that since the "center of lift" is ahead of the
"center of gravity", having the lift vector tilted to one side or the other
by bank does pull the nose of the airplane around a bit, inducing a turn.

An even more complicated answer points out that the ailerons themselves
create increased drag on the raised wing and reduced drag on the lowered
wing, which creates a yaw opposite in direction to the intended turn.

In reality, the ailerons and rudder are BOTH very necessary to accomplish an
efficient turn. Either can be used by themselves to change aircraft
heading, but neither is very effective alone in most airplanes.

As far as the elevator and rudder having "no other secondary effect", that's
not true. Pretty much every control on an airplane has a secondary effect.
Use of rudder will induce roll, for example, while use of the elevator can
induce yaw (mostly due to propeller effects).

[...]
Is there a website you know of that can teach me such basics, without
having to bug you?


There are many. The one already provided by Stan's reply is one of my
favorites. There are also several good books on the topic, including the
FAA's own flight training manuals (available for download from their web
site somewhere, but I don't have a link handy) and a book called
"Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators".

Pete