Plain English Meaning

An invisible line running straight up and down through the middle of the airplane. When the airplane swings its nose left or right around this line, that movement is called yaw, and the rudder pedals control it.

Full Definition

The vertical axis is an imaginary straight line passing through the airplane from top to bottom, perpendicular to both the longitudinal axis (nose to tail) and the lateral axis (wingtip to wingtip), intersecting them at the airplane's center of gravity. Rotation about the vertical axis is called yaw and is controlled primarily by the rudder.

Context Anchor

Used when learning airplane , control movements, and the an airplane can around in .