11
$\begingroup$

Here's an image for you to see these little fins. What are they used for? 1900

Source (image has been modified to indicate location of fins).

|improve this question
$\endgroup$
8
$\begingroup$

Well, those fins were put there to increase yaw and pitch stability on the D version because of the change in the centre of gravity due to a higher fuselage from the C version. This D model also had more powerful engines than the C model. To add on, the strakes at the bottom were added for the same reason too.

More info can be found here.

|improve this answer
$\endgroup$
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Almost correct! The 1900 has a higher fuselage than the King Air, this made those fins on the horizontal tail necessary. $\endgroup$ – Peter Kämpf Feb 3 '16 at 7:17
  • $\begingroup$ You might also add that the D model (pictured in the question) had more powerful engines necessitating some of the modification from the C model. $\endgroup$ – J Walters Feb 3 '16 at 12:54
  • $\begingroup$ That's a crapload of additional drag just to make the thing fly well. Seems like bad design. $\endgroup$ – Greg Taylor Feb 3 '16 at 15:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Well, it wasn't the original design... and it's a lot cheaper to redesign King Air into the 1900 than to redesign an entire new aircraft. Would your customers like a marginally higher fuel bill, or would they prefer to pay twice as much for an aircraft built to a new design? $\endgroup$ – Jon Story Feb 4 '16 at 16:13
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Considering the fuel bill will eventually add up to far more than the price of the aircraft for an airline, I would think the later. $\endgroup$ – Greg Taylor Feb 5 '16 at 10:30
3
$\begingroup$

Some of the answers are referring to the dual aft strakes on the underside of the fuselage below the tail. The dual aft strakes are Indeed there to increase stability, specifically for one engine operations. They remove the yaw damper limitation. To answer the question, the 1900 has the same horizontal stabilizer as a King Air 200. Obviously the 1900 is far longer and bigger than the King Air 200 and needs those extra modifications on the tail. Basically it saved Beechcraft from redesigning an entire new tail, saving quite alot in design costs. Both the C and D models have the “fins” you have circled in your picture. If you think that the dual aft strikes are a bad design, you are completely wrong. Operators actually pay huge amounts of money to fit them to older model King Air 200s part of the Raisbeck upgrade. They improve efficiency and as mentioned earlier remove any yaw dampener limitation.

|improve this answer
$\endgroup$
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ What is the yaw damper limitation? Is that that flight is prohibited if the yaw damper is out of service? $\endgroup$ – Wayne Conrad Oct 18 '18 at 16:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ By the way: welcome to SE! $\endgroup$ – Wayne Conrad Oct 18 '18 at 19:05
  • $\begingroup$ The lower strakes prevent flow separation at high angle of attack, which only shows what a poor design the original aft fuselage is. $\endgroup$ – Peter Kämpf Sep 14 '19 at 2:16

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.