Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The vertical stabilizer is the fixed vertical surface of the empennage. A vertical stabilizer or tail fin [1] [2] is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. [1] The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, stability and trim ...
Rather, the system is intended to counteract incidental and undirected yawing motions, which can be characterised as skids or slips. [ 1 ] [ 5 ] On a single-engine aircraft, the system is particularly useful at addressing the tendency to 'fishtail', smoothing out the left–right movements of the vertical stabilizer (fin), increasing ride ...
A Boeing 737 uses an adjustable stabilizer, moved by a jackscrew, to provide the required pitch trim forces. Generic stabilizer illustrated. A horizontal stabilizer is used to maintain the aircraft in longitudinal balance, or trim: [3] it exerts a vertical force at a distance so the summation of pitch moments about the center of gravity is zero. [4]
The rudder is typically mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer, part of the empennage. When the pilot pushes the left pedal, the rudder deflects left. Pushing the right pedal causes the rudder to deflect right. Deflecting the rudder right pushes the tail left and causes the nose to yaw to the right.
The elevator is a usable up and down system that controls the plane, horizontal stabilizer usually creates a downward force which balances the nose down moment created by the wing lift force, which typically applies at a point (the wing center of lift) situated aft of the airplane's center of gravity.
An animated illustration of the two motions which combine into a Dutch roll Dutch roll damping technique, scanned from U.S. Air Force flight manual. Dutch roll is an aircraft motion consisting of an out-of-phase combination of "tail-wagging" (yaw) and rocking from side to side (roll).
Rudders are typically found within the vertical stabilizer of the aircraft. Excessive use of rudder can exceed the ultimate load of the vertical stabilizer, causing structural failure. [ 2 ] For this reason, modern airliners and fly-by-wire aircraft often include a system to prevent excessive rudder deflection.
It may still have a fuselage, vertical tail fin (vertical stabilizer), and/or vertical rudder. Theoretical advantages of the tailless configuration include low parasitic drag as on the Horten H.IV soaring glider and good stealth characteristics as on the Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber. Disadvantages include a potential sensitivity to trim.