Moving the control stick aft causes the trailing edge of the elevator to move __ and the nose of the aircraft to move __.

• A. Up; Up
• B. Down; down
• C. Down; Up
• D. Up; Down

Answer: (B)

The elevator controls pitch by changing the tailplane’s angle of attack and the resulting force on the tail. When the control stick is moved aft, this setup causes the trailing edge of the elevator to move downward. That downward deflection increases the tail’s downward force, rotating the nose downward. So, both the elevator trailing edge and the nose move downward. If the trailing edge moved upward, it would typically produce a nose-up moment, which is why you often hear that nose-up occurs with up elevator deflection.