Which feature does the lateral axis pass through?

• A. An imaginary line passing through the center of gravity and extending wingtip to wingtip
• B. The nose to tail centerline
• C. A vertical line through the center of gravity
• D. A line along the wing chord

Answer: (A)

The lateral axis is the line that runs from one wingtip to the other, passing through the aircraft’s center of gravity. This axis is the one about which the airplane pitches, so the nose moves up or down and the tail moves in the opposite direction. Elevators are the control surface that tilts the nose around this axis to change pitch.

For context, the nose-to-tail line is the longitudinal axis, which relates to roll; the vertical line through the center of gravity is the vertical axis, which relates to yaw; and a line along the wing chord (leading edge to trailing edge) isn’t one of the primary axes used to describe the plane’s rotations.