What is empennage in an aircraft?

The empennage is the name given to the entire tail section of the aircraft, including both the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, the rudder and the elevator. As a combined unit, it works identically to the feather on the arrow, helping guide the aircraft to its destination.

What are the four parts of the empennage?

Structurally, the empennage consists of the entire tail assembly, including the vertical stabiliser, horizontal stabilisers, rudder, elevators, and the rear section of the fuselage to which they are attached. The stabilisers are fixed wing sections which provide stability for the aircraft to keep it flying straight.

How does the empennage work?

The empennage serves several purposes, one of which is to stabilize the airplane during flight. During flight, these stabilizers allow the airplane to fly in a more straight line by reducing side-to-side movements. In addition to stabilizing the airplane, the empennage provides directional control.

What do you need to know about empennage design?

Empennage design is subdivided into Section 9 (Empennage General Design) and Section 11 (Empennage Sizing). In this first section basic information on empennage design is provided. The size of the empennage is estimated with the aid of the so-called tail volume.

How are the empennage arms of a plane calculated?

In Section Empennage General Design, the areas of the horizontal and vertical tailplanes were calculated merely with the aid of tail volume coefficients. The tail lever arms were estimated as a percentage of the length of the fuselage.

What’s the difference between an empennage and a wing?

Therefore, many of the aspects described in Section 7 (Wing Design) also apply to empennages. The main difference is that empennages – unlike wings – normally only use a small part of the potential lift. If an empennage should come close to its maximum lift coefficient in flight, the empennage design is likely to be faulty.

What are the three types of empennage structure?

ABOUT EMPENNAGE STRUCTURE There are three types of empennage configuration :T-tail, V-tail, and Convectional tail. The most commonly used empennage configuration is a T-tail where engine are positions on the rear of the fuselage or on high-wing aircraft when the horizontal stabilizer may be located in the wing wake.