Types Of Aircraft Tails & What They’re Good For (Part 1)

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Airplanes come in various shapes and sizes.

One critical surface that most aircraft require to achieve stable, safe, and efficient flight is the stabilizer. This is the tail section of the aircraft and includes the vertical fin as well as the small horizontal wings near or on the tail.

Together, the vertical and horizontal fins are called the “Empennage.”

They ensure stability during flight, but their location may differ from aircraft to aircraft.

Conventional Tails

These are the typical tail configurations you see on commercial aircraft. A Vertical tail with the horizontal fins at the base of the tail (like the image above). They are most common on low-wing aircraft with engines that are mounted under the wings.

T-Tails

The name says it all. In this configuration, the Horizontal fin is on top of the vertical fin. This pattern looks like the capital letter “T.”

Hence the name.

This setup is most common among high-wing aircraft, airplanes with engines in the rear, and wing-mounted propeller aircraft.

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Canards

Mostly found on military and high-speed aircraft, these aircraft have their horizontal fins in front of the wings! They offer an additional layer of safety and aerodynamic redundancy. More on that in a future post.

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Flying Wings

Is it an airplane or is it a wing? Take your pick.

Flying wings are one of the coolest-looking aircraft in the skies, but they’re limited mostly to military (and experimental) applications. They are sleek, and don’t have an “empennage,” but their stability is integrated right into the wing. Flying wings are most abundant on military and stealth aircraft.

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Why so many types? Each is unique in what it offers for the aircraft, and what it takes away. I’ll look at these in a later post