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Tailless Aircraft: How Airplanes Fly Without a Tail

Pilot Institute

A tailless aircraft is a fixed-wing airplane without a horizontal stabilizing surface. With this type of aircraft, the functions of longitudinal stability and control are incorporated into the main wing. A tailless aircraft may still have a fuselage and a vertical tail (fin and rudder). How does the tail do this? Lets find out.

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Mastering Stalls: How to Recognize, Prevent, and Recover Safely

Flight Training Central

When the airplane is stabilized in the approach attitude and speed, begin to smoothly and slowly bring the nose up to an attitude which will cause a stall. Recovery is made by lowering the nose, simultaneously applying full power while maintaining directional control with coordinated use of aileron and rudder.

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10 Must-Read Books for Aviation History Fans

Plane and Pilot

Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying Wolfgang Langewiesche (1944) While not a history, per se, Stick and Rudder is a historic introduction to flight that has been used by flight students since some of the earliest days of organized flight training. Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed Ben R.

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Understanding Left-Turning Tendencies in Airplanes

Northstar VFR

By Josh Page, CFI Ever heard your flight instructor say, More right rudder? If uncorrected, it can cause a yawing movement to the left, requiring the pilot to use right rudder to maintain coordinated control. By now you should be able to answer this quickly Applying right rudder! How do you counter this left turning tendency?

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Flight Test Files: The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket – Chasing Mach 2

Vintage Aviation News

They flew a total of 313 missions, collecting invaluable data on pitch stability, lift, drag, and buffeting in transonic and supersonic flight. Crossfield flew the Skyrocket 20 times, collecting critical data on longitudinal and lateral stability. In 1953, U.S. Both aircraft display early examples of swept-wing airfoils.

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Game On!

Plane and Pilot

Although I havent spent much time around GB1s (except for drooling over them while they are on display and flying at airshows) I am always taken aback by how much larger the airplane appears to be in personparticularly, the tall, sweeping rudder that curves down to a sharp point with just enough ground clearance. Sounds good.

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Flying a Small Plane: Key Insights for Beginners

Pilot's Life Blog

Understanding the Basics of Flight Aerodynamics 101 Flying a small plane revolves around understanding four key forces: lift, thrust, drag, and weight. Lift is generated by the wings as air flows over them, counteracting weight, which pulls the plane downward due to gravity.