The elevator is the hinged rear portion of the tail plane: a primary flight control surface that manages the aircraft's pitch angle. By deflecting this small moving section, the pilot controls the position of the nose and the wing's angle of attack, producing the pitch moments needed to climb, descend, or hold altitude.
Expert behind this article
Jim Goodrich
Jim Goodrich is a pilot, aviation expert and founder of Tsunami Air.
What are elevators on an aircraft?
The elevator is a primary flight control surface that manages the aircraft's pitch angle, and it controls movement about the lateral axis of an aircraft. The aircraft's pitch angle affects the flight path and altitude control, and elevators move differentially when required to meet the control input demands.
An elevator is the hinged rear portion of the longitudinal stabilizing surface or tail plane of an aircraft, and it is used to obtain longitudinal or pitch control moments. This primary flight control surface controls movement about the lateral axis.
One elevator is mounted on the trailing edge of each half of the horizontal stabilizer, and the assembly typically covers most or all of the stabilizer's width. The elevator is attached to fixed sections by hinges, so when a manual or autopilot control input is made, the elevators move up or down as appropriate. In most installations, elevators move symmetrically.
Stick or wheel control column and rudder pedals control the movement of the elevator: backward pressure raises the elevator, raises the nose, and lowers the tail, whereas forward movement of the control column depresses the nose and raises the tail. Because elevator is the angle-of-attack control, altering the amount of lift causes the aircraft to climb or dive and this movement is referred to as pitch. Thus, the elevator is the single overriding factor in determining the final equilibrium angle-of-attack.
Where are the elevators located on an airplane?
The elevator is located at the rear of the aircraft, attached to each side of the fuselage, forming the back edge of the horizontal stabilizer. Tail elevators are found on the tail of the airplane, on the horizontal stabilizer of the tail section.
What does the elevator do in a plane?
The elevator is a primary flight control surface fitted to the tail of every airplane. It is a moveable horizontal panel whose main purpose is to control the amount of tail-down force being applied to the fuselage. By working together to raise the tail, the elevator causes the nose to go down whereas by working to lower the tail, it causes the nose to go up. In this way the elevator makes the aircraft pitch around the lateral axis, which lets the pilot change the nose attitude for both climbing and descending.
During take-off the pilot pulls the control column aft, the elevator's trailing edge deflects up, and the elevator increases tail-down force. That extra force pitches the nose up during rotation so the airplane can leave the ground. Throughout the rest of the flight the elevator's deflection directly influences altitude management because altering the angle of the elevator also changes the lift that the horizontal stabilizer produces. This lift change causes the airplane to rotate about its center of gravity, altering the flight path and allowing the pilot to fly the aircraft up or down.
The elevator is a command device that controls an aircraft's motion. I noticed the aircraft's control surface as flat sheets slanting upwards at the tail. From my window chair I saw these elevators were continuously functioning, making continuous small changes. By counterchecking irregular aerial attitudes, the elevators let the plane perform an established climb into skies and hold a steady path.
Jim GoodrichPilot, Airplane Broker and Founder of Tsunami Air
Do all airplanes have elevators?
Most aircraft have two elevators, but not every airplane needs or keeps them. On conventional light airplanes, the tail carries left and right elevators that can be disconnected. A single-cable break does not produce total loss of elevator control. Some airplanes, however, replace the pair with a stabilator - one moving surface that blends elevator and horizontal-stabilizer functions. Almost all Piper singles and piston twins, including the Piper Cherokee, use this arrangement.
Other designs eliminate the elevator altogether. A V-tail merges the function of elevator and rudder in two slanted surfaces, while delta-wing or flying-wing designs adjust pitch by varying thrust or through full-width trailing-edge mechanisms. Therefore, an airplane can fly without a traditional elevator as long as pitch authority is provided by another surface or system.
What is the difference between an aircraft elevator and a stabilizer?
The difference between an elevator and a stabilizer begins with the structure: the horizontal stabilizer is a fixed wing section whose job is to provide stability for the aircraft, while the elevator is a smaller surface connected to the stabilizer by a hinge. Together they form a stab-and-elevator pair that can change the camber of the tailplane, an arrangement that offers more pitch effectiveness than a single all-moving surface.
A stabilator combines the functions of both the fixed stabilizer and the movable elevator into one large moving surface. Because the whole surface tilts, the stabilator offers reduced drag particularly at high Mach numbers and gives the pilot appropriate stick force with smaller hinge moments. However, it offers less pitch effectiveness than the stab-and-elevator combination because camber change is more effective than tilting the all-flying stab.
In operation the stabilator is used to control the position of the nose of the aircraft and to provide pitch trim on many modern commercial airliners and on high-performance fighters. When the pilot deflects the stabilators, the right stabilator goes up and the left stabilator also goes up, generating the pitching motion needed to adjust the angle of attack of the wing. Although the mechanisms differ, the pilot does not notice much difference in handling qualities between the stabilator and the conventional horizontal tail.
