Design Process: Vertical Tail Spin Considerations
Not every airplane is designed to perform intentional spins, but that doesn’t mean the designer can safely ignore the effect of the vertical tail...
Design Process: V-Tails
A V-tail is a configuration where the horizontal stabilizer and vertical fin are replaced by a pair of surfaces mounted at a high dihedral...
Design Process: T-Tails
A T-tail is a configuration where the horizontal tail is mounted on top of the vertical tail rather than directly to the fuselage. T-tails...
H-tails and Triple Tails
The majority of airplanes use the conventional tail configuration with a single, centrally mounted vertical tail and rudder. Sometimes, however, the vertical tail is...
Design Process: Strakes and Ventral Fins
On some airplanes, the basic empennage does not provide acceptable flying qualities in all flight regimes. Supplemental surfaces to augment directional stability, improve high...
Design Process: Engine Size
The engine of an airplane must produce enough power to meet the requirements of all phases of the mission. First, the engine must accelerate the...
Design Process: Slipstream Effects
In preliminary design and for performance calculations, we treat the engine, propeller and airframe as separate entities. The only engine effect we typically consider...
Propeller Effects–Lateral Directional
The propeller slipstream affects the aerodynamics of the airplane. A propeller accelerates air backward and also imparts a swirl. The air in the slipstream...
Thrust Line Effects
The propeller of an airplane generates thrust that drives it through the air. In addition to propelling the airplane, the thrust of the propeller...
Torque and P-factor
We’ve touched on this during previous discussions of slipstream (most recently in the April 2023 issue), but there are several power and propeller effects...
In Case You Missed it
Build Your Own Stall-Warning Device
Certified aircraft have had them for decades-but not Experimentals. By Michel Suire.
Alternative Energies
Chip Yates is a man with a plan—to follow Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight in an all-electric plane. The flight’s planned for 2014; in the meantime, there are battery challenges to solve. By Dean Sigler.
H-tails and Triple Tails
The majority of airplanes use the conventional tail configuration with a single, centrally mounted...
