Airfoil Horizontal Stabilizer Tail 
Pilot Institute
JUNE 4, 2025
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. Key Takeaways A tailless aircraft has no other horizontal surface besides its main wing. Directional (yawing) stability from the vertical stabilizer.
Vintage Aviation News
APRIL 18, 2025
The F-14s unique roll control setup, which relies on differential horizontal stabilizers and spoilers rather than traditional ailerons, provided effective control at various speeds but also introduced side forces that could contribute to spin entry. View of the cockpit of NASA’s F-14, tail number 991.
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Pilot Institute
NOVEMBER 1, 2024
Remember that wings, propeller blades, and tail surfaces are airfoil-shaped. Ice build-up on the airframe changes the airflow pattern around these airfoils. It most commonly forms on the leading edges of your aircraft, including the wings, tail, and horizontal stabilizer, as well as on the propeller blades and pitot tubes.
Vintage Aviation News
JANUARY 22, 2025
The Pigeon-Fraser Model SG was powered by a single 100hp Gnme rotary engine, had a length of 24 feet with a wingspan of 37 feet, 11 inches, and its single-set of wings featured a flat-bottomed airfoil. But the most radical feature of the Pigeon-Fraser was Albree’s all-moving tail design. serial numbers 116 and 117, with U.S.
Flying Magazine
MAY 6, 2025
It retained the classic, high-lift Clark Y airfoil, but the span of its four-position semi-Fowler flap span was extended. There are handles on the lower aft fuselage for maneuvering the airplane on the ground, but more importantly, there are also handles where they are really needed, on the front of the horizontal stabilizer.
Plane and Pilot
OCTOBER 3, 2024
True, a slightly higher aspect ratio wing was desired, which in turn required a larger vertical tail and thus a little extra mass, but the size, approximately 20% larger than a Widgeon, was set. The airfoil is a Harry Riblett shape, giving modernized flow separation on the leading edge for a soft stall yet with good lift and drag performance.
Plane and Pilot
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Planespotters note the F2’s separate ailerons and flaps, conventional tail. For one thing, the F2s fuselage hangs from a completely new wing with two distinct airfoil shapes. An obvious discontinuity leads to a thinner airfoil inboard. Out back, theres an entirely new tail.
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