Vertical stabilizer
The
vertical stabilizer or
fin of an
aircraft is found on its
tail, generally pointing straight upward. It is also known as the vertical tail, and is part of an aircraft's
empennage. The trailing end of the stabilizer is typically movable, and called the
rudder; this allows the aircraft to
yaw. Often
navigational radios have their
antennas placed on or in the vertical tail. In some aircraft, the vertical stabilizer houses an engine; the
Lockheed L-1011,
McDonnell Douglas DC-10,
McDonnell Douglas MD-11,
Boeing 727,
Tupolev Tu-154, and the
Yakovlev Yak-40 are all examples of this arrangement.
Conventional tail
The tail is configured vertically, and the
horizontal stabilizer is directly to the empennage. The
Lockheed L-188 Electra is a typical exponent of this configuration.
The horizontal stabilizer is mounted at the top of the tail. In this case, the vertical stabilizer must accommodate the controls and motors for pitch and
trim. It is commonly seen on rear-engine aircraft, such as the
Boeing 727 or
DC-9's.
Arranged like a cross, the horizontal stabilizer intersects the vertical tail somewhere near the middle. The
PBY Catalina uses this configuration.
Rather than a single vertical stabilizer, there are two. These are vertically arranged, and intersect or are mounted to the ends of the horizontal stabilizer. The
Beechcraft Model 18 uses this configuration.
Triple tail
A variation on the twin tail, it has three vertical stabilizers. The best example of this configuration is the
Lockheed Constellation. On the Constellation it was done to give the airplane maximum vertical stabilizer area, but keep the overall height low enough so that it could fit into maintenance
hangars.
A V-tail has no distinct vertical or horizontal stabilizers. Rather, they are merged into control surfaces known as
ruddervators which control both pitch and yaw. The arrangement looks like a V, and is also known as a
butterfly tail. The
Beechcraft Bonanza Model 35 uses this configuration.
