Spoileron

In aeronautics spoilerons are spoilers that can be used asymmetrically to achieve the effect of ailerons, i.e. to roll an aircraft by reducing the lift of one wing but unlike ailerons not increasing the lift of the other wing. As a side effect a raised spoileron also increases the drag on one wing which causes the aircraft to yaw which can be compensated with the rudder. But since roll and yaw motion are both to the wing with the raised spoileron, it's usually not undesired. Spoilerons can be used to assist the ailerons or replace them entirely, thus reducing the number of control surfaces.

An early use of spoilerons was in the Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter.

The B-52 Stratofortress has no ailerons as they would cause excessive twisting of the highly flexible wing. It achieves roll control entirely through spoilerons mounted near the center of the wing in about the same place as most gliders. The Mitsubishi Mu-2 has double-slotted flaps that take-up the full length of the wing, leaving no room for ailerons. Like the B-52 it has spoilerons near the center of the wing. Another aircraft with full-length double-slotted flaps was the Wren 460. It had a series of spoilerons on each wing that twisted broadside to the wind to assist with roll control.

Boeing's line of jet airliners have fast-acting spoilers. They double as spoilerons that assist the ailerons when the pilot commands a high roll rate. These can be readily seen in operation when the pilot is fighting gusting crosswinds upon landing.

ee also

* Flight controls
* Flaperon
* Elevon