Components of modern aircraft necessary for flight control include devices manipulated from the cockpit by the stick or wheel and by the rudder pedals, and instruments that provide the pilot with essential information.

Mechanical Controls

The attitude of an aeroplane (its orientation relative to the horizon and to the direction of motion) is conventionally determined by three control devices, each of which provides for movement about a different axis. The three devices include the movable sections of the tail, which are the elevators and rudders; and the movable sections of the trailing (aft) edge of the wing, known as ailerons. The control surfaces are operated from the cockpit by means of a control stick or wheel column and rudder pedals. Stick control is used in smaller, lighter aeroplanes, and the wheel, with its greater leverage, is generally used in larger aircraft, as well as in some small ones.

Elevators provide for pitching movement around the lateral axis. A backward pull on the control stick or wheel column raises the elevators, thereby depressing the tail and lifting the nose of the plane for a climb. Forward movement of the stick or column produces the opposite effect, making the plane dive.

Ailerons, usually placed far out on the wing, control rolling movement around the longitudinal axis. Leftward movement of the stick or wheel raises the left aileron and lowers the right, thereby banking the plane to the left. The reverse tilt occurs when the stick or wheel is moved to the right.

Rudders provide for turning movement around the vertical axis, in coordination with the ailerons, changing the course of the plane to the left or right. When the right rudder pedal is pressed, the rudder turns the plane to the right around the vertical axis. Pressing the left pedal produces a left turn.

To ensure easier and more dependable handling of all control surfaces, a number of secondary controls have been devised. Trim tabs are used on rudders, elevators, and ailerons as a means of adjusting the equilibrium, or trim, of the plane. Other secondary controls include flaps (on trailing edges) and slots (on leading edges) to increase lift for take-off or drag for landing, or to improve various other flight characteristics. Spoilers are surfaces that normally lie flush with the wing but can be raised to present a flat surface to the airstream and "spoil" the lift of the wing. Somewhat similar surfaces are called air brakes and extend at right angles to the fuselage or undersurface of the wing to slow the speed of the plane. The control surfaces may be operated directly by pilot effort or by a hydraulic or electrical power system. In the latter case the pilot’s commands may be transmitted mechanically, by electrical signals ("fly-by-wire") or by optical signals ("fly-by-light").

Instruments