The term describing the rotation about the aircraft's longitudinal axis is

• A. Roll
• B. Pitch
• C. Yaw
• D. Thrust

Answer: (A)

Rotation about the aircraft’s longitudinal axis is called roll. The longitudinal axis runs from the nose to the tail, so rotating around it tilts the wings up or down while the nose mostly stays aligned with the horizon. This banking motion is what you see when a plane banks during a turn, and it’s controlled by the ailerons. In contrast, pitch is rotation around the lateral axis (wingtip to wingtip), which tilts the nose up or down, and yaw is rotation about the vertical axis (top to bottom), which moves the nose left or right. Thrust is the forward force, not a rotation. So the term for rotation about the longitudinal axis is roll.