How to Check the Surfaces of the Plane

Part of the Video Series How to Fly an Airplane

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Learn about checking the different parts of a plane in this free how to fly video.

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Video Transcript

How to Check the Surfaces of the Plane
...Flight 27 Number 2, we have traffic on the ... Hi I'm Dave Pressy with St. Charles Flying service on behalf of Expert Village. Another important aspect of the pre-flight is to check our control surfaces. We're going to check, just like with the other structural stuff, we want to check and make sure that all the rivets and all the farings are in good shape, no cracks or any damage there. We want to check for freedom of movement, so we want to be able to move this. No binding sounds, nothing of the nature. We also want to check in the cockpit, while we're doing this, and make sure that the control yoke is moving the proper way. While we're here we also want to check the trim tab, this is an integral part of our elevator. Make sure that that has freedom of movement as well. We also want to check the rudder control surface as well, and make sure that we have some movement here, and no binding, and make certain that there's no damage to the skin or rivets here as well. On the wing we want to check our ailerons. We have one on each wing. We want to check also for freedom of movement. And in this case, we want to make certain that when one goes up, the other one goes down. On the underside of the Aileron, we also want to check the three hinge points, to make sure that all the bolts are secure, and that the hinge pins are also in place and secure. And now some freedom of movement.

About the Expert

Expert: Dave Pressy has been a flight instructor in the St. Louis Area for over four years, and a pilot for more than seven years. He has accumulated nearly 1200 hours of flight time. Read More