Plane and Pilot

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Flight controls mean ailerons, elevator, and rudder, of course, but on some airplanes, if the trim is mis-set, the plane might be difficult or impossible to control. In that configuration, it didnt depart the airplane but, instead, blocked airflow to the tail, with fatal results. But there are variations from plane to plane.

Airplanes 93

Airplanes Cockpit Pilot Aileron 93

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 18, 2025

One of the standout aircraft in Drydens research history is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a legendary Navy fighter jet that played a key role in two major research programs at the center. This photo shows NASA’s F-14 (NASA tail number 991; Navy serial number 157991) flying over Rogers Dry Lake, accompanied by a Navy F-14.

Horizontal Stabilizer 52

Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron Tail Airfoil 52

One Mile at a Time

JUNE 13, 2024

This incident was so serious that the plane was flown to Paine Field in Washington after the incident for Boeing to investigate, and the jet hasn’t flown a passenger flight since. An inspection was performed on the aircraft upon landing, and damage was discovered with the PCU (the power control unit, which also controls the rudder).

Rudder 135

Rudder Tail Pilot Runway 135

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

What you do is you sit up high for takeoff and as you add power and the tail comes up almost immediately, very quickly. “I started to make a normal landing, but as I was getting ready to touch down, I pulled the power off and the tail just fell out from underneath me,” he said. The landings are a little tricky, if you will.

Crosswind 124

Crosswind Airplanes Tail Cockpit 124

Plane and Pilot

MAY 3, 2025

The rich can dream of jets and warbirds. Depressions in the vertical stabilizer and rudder, as well as stabilator skins and ailerons, all help increase panel stiffness while allowing less under-skin structure. The rest of us fantasize about swinging a Piper Cherokee.

Approach 70

Approach Airplanes Weight-Shift-Control Stability 70

Air Facts

JULY 15, 2024

Here’s a video of a 182 flipping in 30 knot winds at Las Vegas (with jet blast the deciding factor). I could turn tail, but things were not much better back further west. I finally learned to time the change of rudder direction better, straight as the nose wheel touches the ground, then as needed to stay upwind. What to do?

Crosswind 98

Crosswind Knot Rudder Turbulence 98

Vintage Aviation News

JULY 19, 2024

The rudder and elevators both had some internal work done to the ribs prior to re-covering the surfaces, but not much. Using Vought drawings, some of the tail wheel struts were manufactured in-house in our machine shop, for the funding was not available to purchase the exceedingly difficult-to-find components. The yoke is original.

Tail 119

Tail Firewall Approach Flight Deck 119

AV Web

JULY 1, 2025

With type ratings in Canadair Challengers and Embraer Phenom jets, plus lots of experience teaching in LSAs, gyroplanes and in the AirCam twin-engine LSA in both land and sea configuration, Wilkinson has seen all kinds come through the door—from senior astronauts to film stars to jamokes like me.

Gross Weight 52

Gross Weight Knot Airplanes Pilot 52

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Adverse yaw is a side effect of aileron use, countered by rudder input. Unlike the elevators and rudder mounted close to the fuselage, the ailerons location at the end of the long, thin, and flexible wings makes them much more prone to flutter. Most of the ailerons mass lies behind the hinge, making it tail-heavy.

Aileron 90

Aileron Weight-Shift-Control Rudder Longitudinal Axis 90

Pilot's Life Blog

MARCH 15, 2024

Vital Components of a Plane in the Tail Assembly The primary function of the empennage or tail assembly of an airplane is to keep the aircraft stable despite the rotational energy of relative wind. Of all the sections of an aircraft, the tail assembly is perhaps the most important for keeping an airplane in the air safely.

Horizontal Stabilizer 52

Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron Air Traffic Control Lift 52

Air Facts

JANUARY 29, 2025

As the aircraft began to slow and the tail wheel contacted the runway and the aircraft began to drift slightly to the right. And there it was, a bracket with both hydraulic lines from the rudder pedals only about 1 apart and 8 of flexible line to the brakes. The approach and touch down were normal. I decided to change career path.

Runway 52

Runway Airplanes Pilot in Command Pilot 52

Vintage Aviation News

JUNE 17, 2025

Little-known to many, the Pirate was not as successful as its designers may have hoped for, but it still marked the first jet aircraft built and flown by Vought Aircraft, and the first aircraft built by the company after it moved from Stratford, Connecticut, to Dallas, Texas. The aircraft was armed with 4 × 20 mm (0.79

Horizontal Stabilizer 124

Horizontal Stabilizer Cockpit Stability Tail 124

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

The principle is the same whether the aircraft gets thrust from propellers or jet engines. A propeller forces air backward, while a jet engine ignites a mixture of air and fuel to generate hot gases that eject backward. In jet engines, increasing throttle increases the fuel flow, producing more exhaust gases that can be flung backward.

Torque 52

Torque Lift Thrust Aileron 52

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 30, 2024

Though the fabric on the wings would be recovered in 1952, the structure of the wings, tail, and rudder remained original to 1910. One of the rarest aircraft in the museum is an example of the first American jet aircraft, the Bell P-59 Airacomet.

Airplanes 105

Airplanes Jet Pilot Weather 105

Vintage Aviation News

FEBRUARY 15, 2025

However, in an aviation sector still recovering from the devastation of WWII and becoming the scene for the rise of jet aircraft, the Deux-Ponts became one of the rarest planes in the world when it was active. This aircraft was among the first large aircraft built in France following the Second World War.

Tail 66

Tail Cargo Stability Rudder 66

Airspeed Junkie

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

The F-18 Fighter Jet: A Review The F-18 Fighter Jet has become one of the most iconic military aircraft in history. From its ability to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions to its outstanding performance, the F-18 has earned its reputation as an incredibly capable fighter jet. It is a single-seat aircraft.

Jet 52

Jet Thrust Stability Cockpit 52

Air Facts

OCTOBER 7, 2024

Navy primary flight training—the instructor had it coming Air Facts Journal Second Lieutenant Arnold Reiner Marine Corps recruitment brochures in the early ’60s described three pilot training pipelines: jets, transports and helicopters. With no money for flight instruction, my plan was for the military to pay for the training.

Cockpit 98

Cockpit Rudder Tail Indicated Airspeed 98

Flying Magazine

MAY 29, 2025

The Aerostar is the product of famed aircraft designer Ted Smith, whose name is attached to such classics as the A-20 twin-engine bomber and the Twin and Jet Commander lines. But when it all comes together, its an impressively capable go-places machine with a flying experience more like a small jet than a light piston twin.

Knot 114

Knot Airplanes Gross Weight Rudder 114

Vintage Aviation News

JULY 5, 2024

The one-of-a-kind jet is carefully unloaded at its new home. The tailfin was modified with additional area forward of tail plane, with a Meteor NF Mk.12-type This safety pilot handled engine starting, re-lighting and fuel control.

Cockpit 119

Cockpit Rudder Stability Pilot 119

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

However, if the aircraft has an oversized tail but not enough dihedral in the wings, it becomes vulnerable to spiral instability. Tail Design Larger, more effective stabilizers provide stronger restoring forces. They’re especially used in statically unstable designs like fighter jets. Is Dutch Roll Dangerous?

Stability 52

Stability Center of Gravity Aileron Rudder 52

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 7, 2025

She flew like a big, lumbering Cub of sorts, complete with a wooden rudder bar, tall wooden stick, and instruments that seemed like they were straight out of World War One. But my recommendation is to find a very early Bonanza for your first V-tail experience. Well, like a lot of the early jets, its fast.

Airplanes 98

Airplanes Tail Pilot Jet 98

Vintage Aviation News

AUGUST 29, 2024

With ECM pods beeping and squeaking, our semi-spread formation of four jets created an indistinct blob of noise on enemy radars. MiGs on your tail! Lead banked and wagged his rudder, signaling us to maneuver back into a spread formation. Four o’clock!” Break right! Break left! We flew directly over the target, roughly 10,000 ft.

Drag 52

Drag Thrust Pilot Rudder 52

Chess In the Air

JUNE 24, 2022

After we decided this, we heard a Challenger jet announce “Taxiing to 26 for takeoff”. It’s worth noting that Shmulik had a close call in the past: a jet pulled onto the runway in front of him with no radio call. This near miss was avoided only by the jet taking off immediately in front of him. He tried again, with no reply.

Pilot 52

Pilot AGL Wind Shear Runway 52

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 Mallard—it’s a trike—has a tail stinger because it otherwise falls on its tail when loading.”

Airplanes 78

Airplanes Rudder Knot Aileron 78

Vintage Aviation News

DECEMBER 11, 2024

3,957 were shot down by anti-aircraft fire, by RAF fighter interception by Hawker Tempests, Spitfires, de Havilland Mosquitos and by Britains first jet fighter, the 400mph Gloster Meteor or hit the cables of barrage balloons tethered outside the capital. 7,488 crossed the south coast of England.

Rudder 52

Rudder Tail Pilot Approach 52

Plane and Pilot

MAY 22, 2025

Price: Decanter and Glasses ($195) Custom Tail Number Replica Sign Best for: Airplane lovers gift Custom Tail Number Replica Sign [Courtesy: Sporty’s] For the dad who doesnt just love aircraft but wants to own a piece of one, this Custom Tail Number Replica Sign is perfect for any aircraft owner or aviation enthusiast.

Pilot 61

Pilot Tail Flight Deck Airplanes 61