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Around which point does an aircraft rotate?

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Around which point does an aircraft rotate?

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Old 2nd May 2021, 11:25
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Around which point does an aircraft rotate?

Without really giving possible answers, as to not lead people in a wrong direction perhaps, I have a question I am struggling with. Mostly because I get different answers from different people 🤔 Hopefully somebody can help me out!

When an aircraft is coming in to land and starts the landing flare, around which point does it rotate? It would be of great help if you can also explain why :-)
(and with around which point it rotates I mean: it rotates around the center of....? and why?)
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Old 2nd May 2021, 16:01
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The rotation you're describing is along the pitch axis. In layman's terms, it pitches around the middle (aka Centre of Gravity) where the wings are mounted. (Very basic description). It's the elevators (in a conventional aircraft) on the tail that initiates the action though. The axis is not a fixed point in an aircraft and it's influenced by where the mass is loaded (people/freight/luggage) and how much fuel is on board.
In this case, think of a line drawn straight across from wing tip to wing tip and the aircraft rotates around that, as in, nose comes up.
Transverse/lateral/pitch.
A simple wiki description.
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Old 3rd May 2021, 11:20
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In swept wing jets the aircraft pivots on the rear wheels of the MLG and levers itself off the ground.
The B747s had a world of problems with high retread numbers on the body gears failing when this load came on them on a max weight take off.
Theoretically the a/c will rotate about the CG but the practical consequences are as above.
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