: how do fighters/bombers compensate for the sudden shift of weight once they dispense their ordinance?
In: 6
They “re-trim.”
“Trimming” is the act of making very minute changes to the control surfaces so it flies like you want it to. It’s an act you don’t normally see in TV or movies, and it’s omitted from most video games (you’ll see it in advanced simulators), too. But a pilot often has to make adjustments to their control surfaces that are too small to be done with the yoke or rudder.
Think of it like correcting the steering alignment of your car. If the steering is off, you have to fight the steering wheel a little to keep your car in your lane. Same concept with the aircraft, only they don’t have to go into the shop to do it. A lot of modern aircraft (US ones, anyway) have computer software that handles the trim fairly well, but in the old days a pilot had to do it by hand, and they had to do it often as the burned fuel. Slap a couple of tons of ammo and bombs on the wings and they had to do it a *lot*.
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