Editing Northrop B-2 Spirit (section)

===Flight controls===
[[File:Vice President Dick Cheney talking inside cockpit at a rally for the B-2 Bomber Forces.jpg|thumb|Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] inside a B-2 cockpit with pilot Capt. Luke Jayne during a visit to [[Whiteman AFB]], 2006]]

To address the inherent flight instability of a [[flying wing]] aircraft, the B-2 uses a complex quadruplex computer-controlled [[fly-by-wire]] flight control system that can automatically manipulate flight surfaces and settings without direct pilot inputs to maintain aircraft stability.<ref>{{harvnb|Moir|Seabridge|2008|p=397}}</ref> The flight computer receives information on external conditions such as the aircraft's current air speed and angle of attack via [[pitot tube|pitot]]-static sensing plates, as opposed to traditional [[pitot tube]]s which would impair the aircraft's stealth capabilities.<ref>{{harvnb|Moir|Seabridge|2008|pp=256–258}}</ref> The flight actuation system incorporates both hydraulic and electrical servoactuated components, and it was designed with a high level of redundancy and fault-diagnostic capabilities.<ref>[http://www.moog.com/markets/aircraft/military-aircraft/special-mission/flight-control-actuation-system-integrator-for-the-b-2-spirit/ "Flight Control Actuation System Integrator for the B-2 Spirit."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922075806/http://www.moog.com/markets/aircraft/military-aircraft/special-mission/flight-control-actuation-system-integrator-for-the-b-2-spirit/ |date=22 September 2012}} ''Moog''. Retrieved 11 August 2012.</ref>

Northrop had investigated several means of applying directional control that would infringe on the aircraft's radar profile as little as possible, eventually settling on a combination of split brake-rudders and differential thrust.<ref name= "sweetman 73"/> Engine thrust became a key element of the B-2's aerodynamic design process early on; thrust not only affects drag and lift but pitching and rolling motions as well.<ref>{{harvnb|Chudoba|2001|p=76}}</ref> Four pairs of control surfaces are located along the wing's trailing edge; while most surfaces are used throughout the aircraft's flight envelope, the inner elevons are normally only in use at slow speeds, such as landing.<ref name= "chudoba 201-2">{{harvnb|Chudoba|2001|pp=201–202}}</ref> To avoid potential contact damage during takeoff and to provide a nose-down pitching attitude, all of the elevons remain drooped during takeoff until a high enough airspeed has been attained.<ref name= "chudoba 201-2"/>