Plain English Meaning

The yoke or stick movement that raises or lowers the airplane's nose. Pull back, nose goes up. Push forward, nose goes down.

Full Definition

The cockpit control, normally the control yoke or stick, that the pilot moves fore and aft to deflect the elevator on the tail and thereby change the airplane's pitch attitude about its lateral axis. Pulling back deflects the elevator up, which pitches the nose up; pushing forward deflects it down, which pitches the nose down.

Context Anchor

You encounter this when learning how the primary flight controls affect the airplane, especially during takeoff, climb, level flight, descent, , and .