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Observe: Airplane Design and Stability

Each of the airplane parts you learned about in the last activity is important for the successful flight of any airplane.

Turbulance such as rising columns of hot air, or down drafts of gusty winds, make the air bumpy. In the wind, an airplane's nose or tail may drop or one wing may dip. How the airplane reacts to a disturbance from its flight path depends on its stability.

Stability is the ability of a flying airplane to remain straight, level, and upright and to return to return to normal after a disturbance without the pilot taking action (autopilot).

  Some planes such as fighter jets are designed to manoeuvre (pitch, roll, and yaw) aggressively and cannot be flown without the help of computer systems.

    Other aircraft such as stunt planes are designed to respond quickly to pilot controls. This plane tends to stay in its new position when its path is changed.

Passenger planes are designed to be very stable and return to their original position when they are disturbed.