Aircraft Control Devices

Aim

To introduce the design features

used to aid in aircraft control

Objectives
1. State the design features used for aircraft
control
2. State the design features used to aid in
control response

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices
Control devices are used to enhance the control
effectiveness
Control devices include:
Modified aileron design
Spoilers
Slots
Leading edge strips
Speed brakes
Vortex generators
Strakes

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Modified aileron
Aircraft manufacturers can alter aircraft design to
design
minimise the effects of adverse aileron yaw
Some techniques employed are:
Differential ailerons
Frise ailerons
Spoilers
Aileron/rudder interconnect

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Differential
With differential ailerons, one aileron is raised a
Ailerons

greater distance than the other aileron is lowered

for a given movement of the control column
This produces an increase in drag on the
descending wing
The greater drag results from deflecting the up
aileron on the descending wing to a greater angle
than the down going aileron on the rising wing

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Frise Ailerons
With a frise-type aileron, when pressure is applied
to the control wheel or stick, the aileron that is
being raised pivots on an offset hinge
This projects the leading edge of the aileron into
the airflow and creates drag
It helps equalise the drag
created by the lowered
aileron on the opposite
wing and reduces adverse
aileron yaw

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Spoilers
Found on many gliders and some aircraft, high drag
devices called spoilers are deployed from the wings
to spoil the smooth airflow, reducing lift and
increasing drag
Spoilers are often used for roll control, an
advantage being the reduction of adverse aileron
yaw
Eg, to turn left, the spoiler
on the left wing is raised,
destroying some of the lift
and creating more drag,
the left wing drops and the
aircraft banks and yaws to

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Spoilers
Spoilers used at the same time (speedbrakes) allows
the aircraft to descend without gaining speed
Spoilers are also used to reduce the ground roll after
landing, by destroying lift and transferring weight to
the wheels, therefore improving braking
effectiveness

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Coupled aileron and
Coupled ailerons and rudder are linked controls
rudder
This is accomplished with rudder-aileron
interconnect springs, which help correct for aileron
drag by automatically deflecting the rudder at the
same time the ailerons are deflected
Eg- when the control wheel is moved to produce a
left roll, the interconnect cable and spring pulls
forward on the left rudder just enough to prevent
the nose from yawing to the right

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices Slots
Slots are high lift devices applied to the leading
edge of an aerofoil
Fixed slots direct airflow to the upper wing surface
and delay airflow separation at higher AoAs
The slot does not increase the
Wing camber, but allows a higher
maximum coefficient of lift
because the stall is delayed until
the wing reaches a greater AoA
They are usually incorporated
within the wing leading edge ahead of the
aileron to retain aileron effectiveness

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices leading edge
Leading edge strips AKA stall strips encourage
strips

early separation of airflow at high AoA

They are fitted to the inboard section of the wing to
ensure it reaches the critical AoA before the wing tip
This reduces the
tendency to wing drop

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices vortex
Vortex generators are used to delay or
generators
prevent shock wave induced boundary
layer separation
They are small, low aspect ratio aerofoils
placed at 12 to 15 degrees AoA to the
airstream
They are usually spaced a few inches apart along
the wing ahead of the ailerons
Vortex generators create a vortex which mixes the
boundary airflow with the high energy airflow
just above the surface,
This produces higher surface velocities
and increases the energy of the
boundary layer, thus a stronger shock
wave is necessary to produce airflow separation.

1. Aircraft Control Devices

Control devices strakes
Strakes are devices which are fitted to the fuselage
to improve stability
These devices called strakes are quite common in
training aircraft under the fuselage which increase
directional stability at high angles of attack and
reduce the tendency to diverge or spin
On some aircraft, strakes also have the effect of
reducing drag in the cruise by guiding airflow over
the lower rear area of the fuselage

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses
When controls are deflected an aerodynamic force
is created opposite to the direction of deflection
It is this force which we feel through the control
column
This force is dependant on the hinge position for
the control surface and how it is linked to the
control column
If the hinge is at the leading edge of the control
surface it will be more difficult to move than if it is
hinged in the centre

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses
Designers incorporate certain features into aircraft
design to make them easier to fly, and to give us
feel of what the aircraft is doing
Certain features such as will be described:
Aerodynamic balancing
Mass balancing
Balance tabs
Anti balance tabs
Servo tabs

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses Aerodynamic
Aerodynamic balancing can be achieved by the
balance
following features:
Inset hinge
Horn balance

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses Mass
Mass balancing is designed to prevent flutter
balancing
on control surfaces
Flutter is a vibration of the control surface
which is often experienced at high speeds
It is caused by pressure disturbances over
the control surface and can be particularly
bad if the control surfaces CoG is not in line
with the hinge point
To avoid flutter we can employ
mass balancing to align the CoG
closer to the hinge point

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses balance tab
The control forces in some aircraft can be excessively
high, and in order to decrease them, the
manufacturer may use balance tabs
They look like trim tabs and are hinged in
approximately the same place
The essential difference between the two is
that the balancing tab is coupled to the
control surface rod so that when the primary
control surface is moved in any direction,
the tab automatically moves in the opposite
direction
The airflow striking the tab counterbalances
some of the air pressure against the primary
control surface, and enables the pilot to

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses anti balance
An anti balance tab works on the same principal as
tab
the balance tab, however, it moves in the same
direction as the control surface
This acts to increase the stick
force required
It is often used on aircraft with
a stabilator or an all flying
tailplane

2. Aircraft control responses

Control responses antiservo tab
A servo tab is a variation in the balance tab where
the pilot control is connected to the tab and not the
main control surface
As the control input moves the servo tab into the
airflow, the aerodynamic forces generated drive the
main control surface in the opposite direction

Questions
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