Aircraft System

An aileron (French for 'little wing') is a hinged flight control surface usually attached to the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll, or movement around the aircraft's longitudinal axis, which normally results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'.

Even though there was extensive prior art in the 19th century for the aileron and its functional predecessor, wing warping, in 1906 the United States granted an expansive patent to the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio for the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated an airplane's control surfaces. Much litigation ensued over the legal issues of lateral roll control, until World War I compelled the U.S. Government to legislate a legal resolution.

In the present day ailerons have become highly refined in their designs and performance, with multiple types created to suit the various fixed wing aircraft in existence.

The ailerons are hinged on the wings and move downward to push the air down and make the wings tilt up. This moves the plane to the side and helps it turn during flight. After landing, the spoilers are used like air brakes to reduce any remaining lift and slow down the airplane.

Flaps are hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed at which an aircraft can be safely flown and to increase the angle of descent for landing. They shorten takeoff and landing distances. Flaps do this by lowering thestall speed and increasing the drag.

Extending flaps increases the camber or curvature of the wing, raising the maximum lift coefficient—or the lift a wing can generate. This allows the aircraft to generate as much lift but at a lower speed, reducing the stalling speed of the aircraft, or the minimum speed at which the aircraft will maintain flight. Extending flaps...