How does an airplane turn right?

Answer 1

The pilot uses the ailerons (control surfaces usually on the backs of the wings) to increase the lift on the left wing and reduce the lift on the right wing. This causes the left wing to raise and the right wing to lower.

Now, instead of the wings producing lift that pulls straight up on the plane, the lift is now pulling the plane up and to the right. This force causes the plane's flight path to start to curve to the right.

Since some of the lift is now going to turning the plane, there is less lift holding the plane up. To prevent the plane from losing altitude in the turn, the pilot would normally use the elevators to raise the plane's nose slightly to produce more lift to maintain constant altitude.

Aerodynamic forces called "adverse yaw" now cause the plane's nose to turn to the left. This is, obviously, not what you want when you're trying to turn right. The pilot uses the rudder (a vertical control surface usually on the back of the plane) to counter this adverse yaw and keep the nose of the plane pointing in the direction the plane is going.

When the turn is finished, the pilot uses the ailerons to restore the wings to level and uses the rudder to keep the plane coordinated (pointing in direction it is going) as he finishes the turn. He then lowers the nose slightly to prevent the increased lift (no longer needed to turn the plane) from causing the plane to climb.

The rudder is not used to turn the plane. This is a common misconception. If you tried to use the rudder to turn the plane, the passengers would feel like they were sliding in their seats, the plane's side would begin to face into the wind, and if a foolish pilot kept this up, the inside wing would stop producing lift and drop suddenly.