page_title: Flight control surfaces
section_title: Axes of motion
hierarchical_section_title: Flight control surfaces / Development / Axes of motion
caption_attribution_description: Roll, yaw and pitch axis definition for an airplane. A version without the English texts is available at Image:Flight dynamics.png:
context_page_description: Aircraft flight control surfaces are aerodynamic devices allowing a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude.
  Development of an effective set of flight control surfaces was a critical advance in the development of aircraft. Early efforts at fixed-wing aircraft design succeeded in generating sufficient lift to get the aircraft off the ground, but once aloft, the aircraft proved uncontrollable, often with disastrous results. The development of effective flight controls is what allowed stable flight.
  Other fixed-wing aircraft configurations may use different control surfaces but the basic principles remain. The controls for rotary wing aircraft accomplish the same motions about the three axes of rotation, but manipulate the rotating flight controls in a completely different manner.
context_section_description: An aircraft is free to rotate around three axes that are perpendicular to each other and intersect at its center of gravity (CG). To control position and direction a pilot must be able to control rotation about each of them.
caption: Rotation around the three axes
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