Ask an Explainer

A pilot controls an airplane’s height or position through control surfaces, movable surfaces on airplane’s wings and tail. Control surfaces create a difference in air pressure to produce a force on the airplane in a desired direction. A horizontal stabilizer is one of these control surfaces. If the airplane tilts up or down, air pressure increases on one side of the stabilizer and decreases on the other. This pressure difference pushes it back to its original position, keeping the airplane in its direction of motion.