Elevators
The elevators provide control of the pitch attitude about the airplane's lateral axis. Elevators are the key to controlling the angle of attack.
- When the control wheel (yoke) is pulled toward the pilot or aft, the nose pitches up.
- When the yoke is pushed away from the pilot or forward, the nose pitches down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_controls This shows the controls in motion
Ailerons
The primary use of the ailerons is to bank, or roll the airplane around the longitudinal axis. Banking the wings results in the airplane turning in the direction of the bank. This is a good time to mention that none of these flight controls are independent of each other, displacing one from the neutral position requires input from the one or two of the other controls. I will get to that later in an aerodynamics entry.
-When the yoke is turned to the left, the left aileron is raised and the airplane banks tot he left
-When the yoke is turned to the right, the right aileron is raised and the airplane banks to the right.
Rudder
The rudder is used to control the direction (left or right) of the yaw about the airplane's vertical axis.
-When the left rudder is pushed with your left foot, the nose pivots to the left
-When the right rudder is pushed with your right foot, the nose pivots to the right.
Extra fun stuff
Here is a video of how the Wright Brothers improved flight controls to the point where the flight control movements were predictable.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5285628094731189811&q=3+axis+flying&hl=en
