Tochangeflightdirection,flyinganimalsmodulateaerodynamicforceeitherrelativetotheirbodiestogeneratetorqueaboutthecenterofmass,orrelativetotheflightpathtoproducecentripetalforcethatcurvesthetrajectory.Inemployingthelatter,thedirectionofaerodynamicforceremainsfixedinthebodyframeandrotationsofthebodyredirecttheforce.Whilebothaforementionedtechniquesareessentialforflight,itiscriticaltoinvestigatehowananimalbalancesthetwotoachieveaeriallocomotion.Here,wemeasuredwingandbodykinematicsofcicada(Tibicenlinnei)infreeflight,includingflightperiodsofbothlittleandsubstantialbodyreorientations.Itisfoundthatcicadasemployacommonforcevectoringtechniquetoexecutealltheseflights.Weshowthatthedirectionofthehalf-strokeaveragedaerodynamicforcerelativetothebodyisindependentofthebodyorientation,varyinginarangeofmerely20deg.Despitedirectionallimitationoftheaerodynamicforce,pitchandrolltorquearegeneratedbyalteringwingangleofattackanditsmeanpositionrelativetothecenterofmass.Thisresultsinbodyrotationswhichredirectthewingforceintheglobalframeandconsequentlychangetheflighttrajectory.
