This may well be something of a stupid question, but I'm quite used to looking stupid so....Why are ailerons called ailerons? Where did that word come from?

French, diminutive of aile, wing, from Old French, from Latin la

The word is French and literally means little wings. The Wright brothers called this system wing warping and a French gentlemen invented the term, aileron, in an attempt to circumvent the Wrights pantent, and thereby not be sued by them. They sued anyway. :)but the term aileron stuck, as has many French words survived in the aircraft industry.

Thanks! Just one of those things that bugs you...

It's the kind of thing dictionaries are for... Looking it up wouldn't have taken you more than ten seconds, and might have saved you a lot of anguish (grin)!Jaap Verduijn.

Ah, well I do have an excuse! I was at work when I originally posted the question. Just one of those things that pops into your head - "I'm sure I've read an explanation for this somewhere before" etc.

I've also remarked how much aviation vocabulary comes from French. Is this a legacy of World War I?

I think the French lead the way in the early days of aviation - despite the Wright brothers initial success the US fell behind quite quickly in aeroplane development. Which seems strange now with the likes of Boeing dominating the market. But yes, some the most successful pioneering aircraft were french...

Here are some other French-type aviation words:EmpennageFuselageCamouflage (oops...wrong forum...that one belongs in the Combat sim forum!) Decoupage (oops

Oh yeah,The French were the early pioneers of aviation...way before anyone else got into the act.In fact, French aviator Louis Blerio was famous for

I think it is time to halt this dilution of the english language. The Swiss and French are taking bold steps to stem the tide of english words drifting into their dictionaries.I propose that the word aileron be changed to english. I submit WING THINGY as the replacement which is also easy to spell. Fuselage - ?BobP :)

The German Connotation is even Worse :)Flippendefloppendeliftenschifter !:)

OK, gauntlet thrown...garage - car homepitot - static ventempennage - the bit at the backfuselage - oh, I give up. The French win. Just remember Agincourt before you get too cocky! :-)

>Flippendefloppendeliftenschifter ! >That is the best word I've heard for ages! Is it for real? I really hope so... :-lol

>>Flippendefloppendeliftenschifter ! >>>>That is the best word I've heard for ages! Is it for real? I >really hope so... >:-lol No, it's not. The correct German word is "Querruder".