Secondary flight controls, landing gear, and the cabin environment
Flaps, leading edge devices, spoilers and trim; tricycle and tailwheel gear, fixed and retractable, the brakes; and the systems that heat, ventilate, pressurize and oxygenate the cabin.
15 min read · The airplane: engine and systems
After this lesson you can
- Name the four common flap types and say what each does to lift and drag, and what leading edge devices add.
- Explain how a trim tab moves relative to the elevator, and distinguish trim, balance, servo and antiservo tabs.
- Compare tricycle and tailwheel landing gear, fixed and retractable gear, and describe how the brakes are used on the ground.
- Describe the cabin heating, ventilation, oxygen and pressurization systems a private pilot may meet, and the hazard each carries.
The primary flight controls, ailerons, elevator and rudder, were covered with the three axes. The airplane carries a second set of surfaces and systems that do not steer it but change what it can do: flaps and leading edge devices that let it fly slower, spoilers that let it descend without accelerating, and trim that lets the pilot stop holding pressure. Underneath it sits the landing gear, and around the occupants sits the environmental system.
The private pilot standards list all three as knowledge items in the operation of systems. This lesson covers them from the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, in that order.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Flaps: four types, one trade
- 2.Trim: the tab that moves the other way
- 3.Landing gear: three wheels, two arrangements, and the brakes
- 4.The cabin environment: heat, air, oxygen, pressure
These 4 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the PPL track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.