Timeline for Why do modern aircraft tend to have angular tails?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
23 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 15, 2020 at 9:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackAviation/status/1228605011921424384 | ||
| Feb 14, 2020 at 13:44 | answer | added | Fred Ogden | timeline score: 2 | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 23:23 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Feb 13, 2020 at 18:30 | answer | added | Romeo_4808N | timeline score: 15 | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 17:39 | history | edited | flyingfisch | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Feb 13, 2020 at 17:04 | answer | added | John K | timeline score: 10 | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:38 | comment | added | flyingfisch | @JohnK I don't think it's an exact duplicate. I'm not referring to swept tails in general, the bf 109 and P-80 both have swept, but round, tails. I'm referring to the move from a rounded tail shape to a sharply angled tail shape | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:38 | comment | added | John K | @verandaguy on low speed airplanes yes it is mostly for looks. Cessna switched their whole line except the 180-185 to swept tails in the mid 60s, basically for styling reasons. There was no performance benefit significant enough to justify the massive retooling required. Nobody sweeps horizontal tails of light a/c (the Aerostar is one exception) because nobody cares about the look from below. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:33 | comment | added | John K | Dupe of this: aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/65169/… | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:29 | comment | added | user3528438 | @flyingfisch Because they didn't have computers? | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:27 | comment | added | flyingfisch | @user3528438 if that's the case, I wonder why it took so long for common aircraft designs to adopt the more angular tail. You'd think there would be some aircraft with rounded tails and some with angular tails in the era from 1903 to 1940. In addition I could be completely off-base but it seems like it's more difficult to mass-produce a round tail than an angled one? | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:23 | comment | added | user3528438 | @flyingfisch I'm saying there might have never been any benefit to begin with. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:21 | comment | added | flyingfisch | @AEheresupportsMonica I think that makes sense for GA aircraft, but again, I doubt the F-86 was given an angular tail just because it looked cooler. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:10 | comment | added | AEhere supports Monica | @verandaguy I recall an anecdote about the C172 vertical stabilizer being swept for the looks, albeit after calculating that the efficiency penalty versus an unswept design would be small. Looks sell aircraft as much as performance; especially to low-hour, high-income pilots. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 16:04 | comment | added | flyingfisch | @user3528438 care to elaborate? what was the perceived benefit to rounding the tail that was later found to be pointless? | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:59 | comment | added | verandaguy | @quietflyer It's almost definitely not looks. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:48 | comment | added | flyingfisch | @quietflyer why do high-speed fighter aircraft seem to be the first to adopt the angular tail? I doubt their design decisions were based primarily around looks... | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:42 | comment | added | quiet flyer | Mainly looks perhaps? | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:40 | comment | added | zymhan | @flyingfisch Oh you're right, the last plane you listed was P-51, and then I saw the image of the P-38 and had a brain fart. Indeed, the P-51 has a much squarer/more angular tail. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:33 | comment | added | flyingfisch | @zymhan I suppose where you draw the line between "round" and "angular" is subjective to some extent, as it could be argued that the Ta 152's tail is angular with rounded corners, or round with straight edges. While the P-51's tail has rounded corners, I'm more referring to the overall shape versus corners. The Spitfire and P-38 have almost oval tails, while the P-51 has very distinct angles. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:32 | comment | added | user3528438 | I guess we've found out later that rounding the tip is pointless. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:28 | comment | added | zymhan | You say the P-51 is an "exception" but it looks to have a very rounded tail to me. It also seems like older passenger planes (e.g. DC-3, Lockheed Electra and Constellation) had rounded empennages as well, so I'm curious as to what caused the change. The fact that slow GA airplanes also have an angular empennage indicates it isn't just a speed-related design. | |
| Feb 13, 2020 at 15:12 | history | asked | flyingfisch | CC BY-SA 4.0 |