PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - primary effect of elevator
View Single Post
Old 31st May 2006, 11:01
  #4 (permalink)  
Oktas8
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Australia
Posts: 889
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi Plucka,

Clearly FFF has given a textbook answer - it is "the" answer, if there is such a thing! The purpose of an elevator is to control pitch, but the effect is usually to control angle of attack.

Did you also know that for a constant weight and atmospheric conditions being a constant, the aircraft will stall with the elevator at the same position regardless of speed.
For a little more information, your assertion quoted above is not strictly true. Stalling stick position will vary with configuration, rate of change of 'g', power (in some aircraft), and with CG position, to name only the main variables. For this reason the concept is not used in basic training, although it is an interesting discussion point in an aerobatics course.

While on the topic of aerobatics, did you know that with the right combination of speed and power you can use the elevator to maintain a pitch rate without changing the angle of attack very much? The first half of a loop would be a good example. So actually it is more generally true to say that elevator controls pitch, than to say that it controls angle of attack.

Well done for raising these points - you obviously already understand more than many!

O8
Oktas8 is offline