Two Aileron Types

To help reduce the likelihood of wing tip stall and adverse yaw, engineers developed differential ailerons.

Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Differential ailerons are designed to reduce wing tip stall and adverse yaw by deflecting upward significantly more than downward, minimizing the problematic drag caused by downward deflection.
This differential movement helps equalize drag across both wings and prevents wing tip stall, particularly at high angles of attack, as the upward deflected aileron causes less aerodynamic harm.
Other related designs include slotted differential ailerons, which improve airflow and effectiveness during slow flight, and Frise ailerons, which minimize adverse yaw by creating complementary drag when deflected upward.

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To help reduce the likelihood of wing tip stall and adverse yaw, engineers developed differential ailerons. As the name implies, they deflect by different amounts: When the stick or yoke is moved to the right, for example, the aileron on the right (descending) wing is deflected up much more than the left (ascending) wing’s aileron is deflected down. This basic design is depicted in Figure 2, at right.

The reason differential aileron movement works is that deflection of an aileron upward can’t do much harm; it is the aileron deflected downward that can be the “troublemaker,” i.e., the one possibly precipitating a wing-tip stall. Additionally, a design incorporating differential aileron deflection works to minimize adverse yaw, the tendency of the ailerons to pull the airplane’s nose around to the opposite side of the intended direction of turn.