The plane’s tail is actually two major control surfaces. The horizontal control surface includes the elevators, and the vertical surface is the rudder.
As mentioned elsewhere in this Flight Guide, the way to move the plane’s nose up or down is to move the tail, specifically the elevators. There is an elevator surface on the trailing edge of each of the two sides of the tail. Unlike the ailerons, both move either up or down together. The cockpit controller that makes this happen is part of the yoke or stick. Moving the yoke or stick forward moves the elevators and the plane’s nose down. Pulling back on the yoke or stick moves the elevators and the plane’s nose up. Yes, some aircraft use a stick instead of a yoke to control the ailerons and elevators.
