At lower speeds the redirection of air over control surfaces, and thus the force applied to maneuver the aircraft, is reduced below the airframe’s maximum capacity and thus the aircraft will not turn at its maximum rate.

If there is insufficient airflow, maneuverability is decreased and, as the velocity drops to less than that required to produce sufficient lift in the aircraft’s current attitude, the airplane will stall.br /br /The speed at which an aircraft is capable of its maximum aerodynamic maneuverability is known as the corner airspeed at any greater speed the control surfaces cannot operate at maximum effect due to either airframe stresses or induced instability from turbulent airflow over the control surface. For traditional maneuvering control to be maintained, the aircraft must maintain sufficient forward velocity and a sufficiently low angle of attack to provide airflow over the top of the wings (maintaining lift) and also over its control surfaces. The angle and thus the directional forces on the aircraft are is controllable by the pilot to maintain the desired altitude, such as pitch, roll and heading, and also to perform aerobatic maneuvers that rapidly change the aircraft’s attitude. When a control surface is moved to present an angle to the oncoming airflow, the control surface redirects the air in a different direction and, by Newton’s Third Law, an equal, opposing force is applied by the air to the control surface and thus the aircraft. Some of these control surfaces are combined, such as in the “rudder-vaters” of a V-tail configuration the basic properties are unaffected. Traditional aircraft maneuvering is accomplished by altering the flow of passing air over the control surfaces of the aircraft – the ailerons, elevators, flaps, air brakes and rudder.

Air combat maneuvers aerobatic maneuver