Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Over Center Lock (Can’t find definition anywhere)

Asked by: 2713 views Aircraft Systems, Student Pilot

I cannot find where anything defines what an over center lock is. I can make up a lot of possibilities but I'm not able to figure out exactly what this is. 

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Aug 12, 2019

    Your knee is an overcenter lock. When you stand and put weight on your knee, the force of the weight is in a direction beyond center such that it keeps your knee locked and adding more weight makes the lock tighter. If you break the over center of gravity location, you have to use your leg muscles to keep you upright. An overcenter lock is one that uses the force applied in a direction past center to prevent the lock from releasing.

    +4 Votes Thumb up 4 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Gary S. on Aug 15, 2019

    An aviation application of what John describes above could be the way in which a Dzus cowl latch operates.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.