The elevator is the?

• A. The vertical stabilizer
• B. The wing flap
• C. The horizontal, movable primary control surface in the tail, hinged to trailing edge of fixed horizontal stabilizer
• D. The nose wheel steering

Answer: (C)

The elevator is the horizontal, movable control surface on the tail that deflects up or down to control pitch. It’s hinged to the trailing edge of the fixed horizontal stabilizer, and its movement changes the tail’s angle of attack, producing a nose-up or nose-down moment. Pulling back on the controls raises the elevator and pitches the nose up; pushing forward lowers the elevator and pitches the nose down. The vertical stabilizer is the fin that helps with yaw, wing flaps are on the wings to increase lift for takeoff/landing, and nose wheel steering affects ground direction, not pitch.