Directional Stabilization and Control
"Directional (or yaw) stability is usually provided by the fin and rudder together forming a total surface", the vertical stabilizer. Directional control is obtained with the use of the rudder, a movable surface at the rear of the fin. Less commonly, the whole fin surface is pivoted for both stability and control. Yaw stability makes aircraft tend to turn into gusts, rather than being deviated by them.
Read more about this topic: Stabilizer (aircraft)
Famous quotes containing the word control:
““Have we any control over being born?,” my friend asked in despair. “No, the job is done for us while we’re sleeping, so to speak, and when we wake up everything is all set. We merely appear, like an ornate celebrity wheeled out in a wheelchair.” “I don’t remember,” my friend claimed. “No need to,” I said: “what need have us free-loaders for any special alertness? We’re done for.””
—Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. The Self-Devoted Friend, New Directions (1967)