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Tailless Aircraft: How Airplanes Fly Without a Tail

Pilot Institute

Have you ever seen an airplane with no tail and no vertical fin, but with just a sleek wing? They prove that with the right aerodynamic tricks, you dont need a tail to fly. A tailless aircraft may still have a fuselage and a vertical tail (fin and rudder). How does the tail do this? Ever wondered how it stays balanced?

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Examining over 100 years of flight automation and the history of the autopilot

Aerotime

Flying for extended periods of time at the controls of a basic aircraft was hard physical work, and poor weather or mechanical issues could also add to pilot fatigue on longer flights. Sperrys first autopilot was born from the concept of assisting pilots during longer flights and reducing their workload, both physical and mental.

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Flight Test Files: Convair XF-92A Dart

Vintage Aviation News

Besides validating the thin delta wing principle, the XF-92A played a major role in supporting the development of the Convair F-102A interceptor, the Air Forces first attempt at an all-weather, supersonic interceptor. It was controlled by a conventional rudder and full-span elevons that functioned as elevators and ailerons.

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Fly Fast, Hit Hard, Take a Punch: A Brief History of the War-Winning P-47 Thunderbolt

Vintage Aviation News

As first designed, the plane had a sharp upper line to the top of the fuselage from the cockpit to the tail, resulting in the “razorback” nickname. The “bubbletop” was less laterally stable than the “razorback,” so starting with the P-47D-27-RE a shallow fillet was added ahead of the vertical tail.

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Douglas DC-3 Returns to Exposition Park

Vintage Aviation News

However, the design of the museum building was not intended to accommodate the DC-3, and so the aircraft was left outdoors in Exposition Park, exposed to the local weather. Douglas DC-3-362 (c/n 3269, N760) marked ‘Spirit of Seventy Six’ on display at Exposition Park, Los Angeles, December 1991.

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Flying a Plane for the First Time: A Beginner’s Guide

Pilot's Life Blog

Aircraft Controls: Primary ControlsAilerons, Elevators, Rudder The three primary flight controls ailerons , elevators, and rudderare essential for piloting an aircraft. Ailerons, located on the wings, control the plane’s roll. Elevators, found on the tail, manage its pitch, or up-and-down motion.

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Wingtip Vortices and Wake Turbulence

Pilot Institute

As seen from the aircrafts tail, the vortex rotates in the anti-clockwise direction on the right wingtip and the clockwise direction on the left wingtip. When the aircraft encounters a vortex and its strong enough to induce roll, the pilot counters it by using the ailerons against the roll and tries to fly out of the wake as soon as possible.