SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/cap-ailerons-roll

Which control surfaces control an airplane's roll?

Ailerons roll the airplane about its longitudinal axis.

Start playing free

  1. Elevators
  2. Rudder
  3. Ailerons ✔

Why: Ailerons are on the back edges of the wings and move in opposite directions to bank the airplane. Banking is how a pilot starts a turn.

Huh, didn't know that: Motion about the longitudinal axis is roll, about the lateral axis is pitch and about the vertical axis is yaw.

The dad joke
What happened when the pilot flew through a rainbow? He passed his exam with flying colors.
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: Ailerons. Ailerons are on the back edges of the wings and move in opposite directions to bank the airplane. Banking is how a pilot starts a turn.

  1. FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapter 5 www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/07_phak_ch5_0.pdf
    Roll is controlled by the ailerons; pitch is controlled by the elevators; yaw is controlled by the rudder.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

AerospaceWhich control surfaces control an airplane's pitch, its nose-up and nose-down motion?AerospaceWhich control surface controls an airplane's yaw, its nose swinging left or right?AerospaceWhich of the four forces of flight is caused by gravity pulling toward the center of the Earth?

That's stuff everyone should know.