How does an airplane turn?

Answer 1

Let's look at this and figure it out (but keep it simple). To turn, an aircraft will perform what is called a bank or banking maneuver. It's done by pushing the stick left or right, a natural move. The ailerons, which are what are called control surfaces, are on the back (trailing edge) of each wing. By pushing the stick to, say, the left, the left aileron will tip up, and the right aileron will tip down. The left wing will be pushed down, and the right wing will be pushed up. This will cause the craft to "tip" to the left and start to turn. Let's look more closely. The wings give the craft lift. They push down on air and cause the aircraft to "climb" or to hold altitude (as we chose). With the craft in a bank, the lift of the wings keeps the plane aloft, and it will also "push" the aircraft to the left. The bank allows some of the lift, some of the air pushing on the underside of the wings, to push the plane left as well as to hold it up in the sky. To stretch a bit, the force on the underside of the wings will "split" between "up" and "left" to make the plane turn. Pulling back on the stick a bit usually accompanies banking. That's because there is a bit of "loss" in the vertical component of lift because some of the lift was diverted to cause the plane to bank. The plane will lose altitude unless the stick is pulled back to increase what is called the angle of attack of the wing. Angle of attack can be roughly translated into how far the wing is "tipped up" as regards which direction the aircraft is moving through the air. One of the tests of the pilot in an advanced or commercial checkout is the ability of that pilot to hold altitude in a banked turn around a fixed point on the ground. This will require that the person at the controls have a good feel for what he is doing. The bank will provide the turning radius, and the stick will have to be pulled back just a bit to compensate for a "loss" of vertical lift as some of the lift is "diverted" to cause the craft to "turn" or bank.