Aircraft tailplane terms...?

Question

Stabilizers, dorsal/ventral, rudder, rudervators, fins...

...What's it all mean? What are the differences of them all?

Answer 1

there much alike i know this is a very good answer sorry but the just have different parts on them at the back.

sorry i couldn't help to much

Answer 2

Stabilizers are your horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Your horizontal stabilizers consist of your elevators, which control your upward and downward pitch of the aircraft. In some cases, your horizontal stabilizer is referred to as a stabilitor, in which the entire stabilizer, not just the elevator, moves. One such case is the F-16 Fighting Falcon, where it has a stabilizer.

When someone uses the word "fin," they are referring to the front, fixed part of the horizontal stabilizer.

The vertical stabilizer consists only of the rudder, which controls the yawing motion of the aircraft from the left to the right. Ruddervators are a control surface designed to manage both yaw and pitch; this is done in the "v-tail" design, most commonly seen on the classic Beech Bonanza.

As for dorsal and ventral, that merely means top and bottom. Two other terms you may want to familiarize yourself with are "port" and "starboard," which mean left and right, respectively. Hope this helps, and happy flying!

Answer 3

A stabilizer can be any of the surfaces meant for stabilizing the aircraft. It can be horizontal (housing the elevators) or vertical (with the rudder fins). By definition an elevator produces pitching moment and rudder produces yaw.

Dorsal and ventral refers to the physical positioning of the control surface on the airframe. Their literal meanings are valid in this context.

A ruddervator is unique for the V-Tail configuration where the rear deflection surfaces function as both the rudder and the elevator.

A fin is usually used when refering to a vertical control surface.

Hope I've been of help.

Answer 4

A stabilizer is an airfoil designed to provide stability.  The entire assembly of vertical and horizontal fins is called by the French word "empennage," which also means the feathers of an arrow.  You can think of the tail of an airplane as working like an arrow's feathers.  It keeps the airplane flying in a straight line by capturing the airflow that moves past the body of the airplane in much the same way a weather vane "catches the wind."

For much more information about how these control surfaces help to control an airplane, try an internet search on "basic aerodynamics," and one on "empennage."

Dorsal and ventral are biological terms.  A dolphin has a prominent dorsal fin; that is, the fin that sticks up from its back.  

The "dorsal" fin on most airplanes is also called the "vertical stabilizer," and usually has the rudder mounted at the trailing edge.  The rudder is a movable surface that is controlled by foot pedals in front of the pilot's seat, and is used to correct for adverse forces in flight by applying "yaw" (side-to-side) force on the airplane.

Some airplanes have ventral (on the belly) fins like a shark.  These are usually found on very fast airplanes where additional directional stability is needed.

The other typical part of the empennage is the horizontal stabilizers (or "fins").  These usually project from the sides of the airplane at the tail, and incorporate the elevators along the trailing edge.  The elevators are horizontal moving surfaces that swivel up and down to provide "pitch" (nose up/nose down) control.

Ruddervators are special control surfaces that exist only on a few airplanes of radical design.  A pair of ruddervators is operated by a special mechanism that combines the yaw action of a rudder with the pitch action of the elevators.  For more information about ruddervators, do an internet search on "beechcraft bonanza."

You might also do an internet search on "airplane design" and "airplane controls."

Have fun.