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The anatomy of a commercial flight – all you ever wanted to know: Part one  

Aerotime

You might spot the spoilers popping up from the top of the wing and the ailerons deflecting upwards and downwards on the rear of the wing. After reaching 100 knots, the aircraft will continue to accelerate to what is referred to as its V1 speed. This marks the most critical point of the take-off run.

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There’s Something Essential in the Bank

Flying Magazine

Despite the early invention of the aileron, wing warping continued to be used, even on some fighters, as late as 1916. The function of an aileron, or any hinged trailing-edge surface, is commonly explained in ground school by simple analogy to, say, a door opened on a windy day. It affects the entire area ahead of the aileron as well.

Aileron 108
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Centerline, centerline, centerline

Air Facts

With a little forward pressure on the yoke, I was able to keep the airplane on the runway to continue picking up airspeed as we arrived at my target of 60 knots for takeoff. As soon as we hit 60 knots indicated, I lightly pulled back on the yoke and the airplane popped right off the ground. No ceiling so no hold for us today!

Aileron 96
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Simulated Austria Is Wild, Wonderful

Flying Magazine

The small aileron “tabs” were not doing a great job in crosswind ability. Left downwind on a blustery day with live weather actually shows a virga burst over the field, with local winds gusting 36 knots, making for some extreme conditions in such a tight canyon. Taking off in violent winds was a task.

Crosswind 105
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35 years ago: How a United Airlines crew landed an ‘unflyable’ DC-10

Aerotime

The primary flight controls on the DC-10 (ailerons, rudder, elevators, spoilers) were all operated by hydraulic pressure and the first officer was quick to realize that his controls were unresponsive to his inputs. On checking the hydraulic fluid pressure and quantity gauges, he noticed that they all read zero.

Runway 294
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The Ercoupe

Plane and Pilot

The Ercoupe design featured an interconnect between the full-span ailerons, rudder, and steerable nosewheel. With the canopy open, the wind in your hair, and the leisurely 80-knot cruise, it is flying at its most basic best. (ERCO), Weick refined the design into the low-wing, twin-tailed beauty whose distinctive looks are unmistakable.

Rudder 101
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Split-S Decision

Plane and Pilot

“A few seconds later the airplane data showed a maneuver consistent with an aileron roll followed by a rapid descent about 1,000 feet before regaining its prior altitude and track above the highway.” I did my first aileron roll in an RV-4. The listed entry airspeed range is 87 to 97 knots.