How come all mordern airliners have a tail at the rear?

Question

instead of having a tail at the front?

Answer 1

Ah a Burt Rutan fan. Because it works best.

Answer 2

Because of the Airplane's Rudder, to enable the Yaw.

for example when the aircraft on the runway turns left due to cross-wind or any other effect, the pilot applies the right rudder pedal, and when it turns right he applies the left and so on...

Answer 3

because there isnt room for a scrapyard at the end of runway one.lol

Answer 4

How can you call the thing in front a tail.  Tails are always at the rear, even in animals.

What's the deal??

.

Answer 5

Because it would be hard to fly if it was bettween it's legs.

   Gotta Fly...

                      Mike & "Jaz" the Flying Dog

Answer 6

Civil air transport aircraft, including all modern airliners, are designed very conservatively.  The objectives are safety and low operating costs. Performance is not very important—in fact, some of the fastest airliners are also some of the oldest ones (such as the 747), because modern airliners usually sacrifice a bit of performance for better fuel economy.

These goals are very different from those of military aircraft, where performance is the most important, and safety and economy are sometimes nearly ignored.  Exotic designs are used for some military aircraft in order to get maximum performance. The higher risk of using an exotic design is considered acceptable in exchange for dramatic performance.

For example, if the computers fail on a large airliner, the airplane continues to fly straight and level, and can easily be controlled by the pilots. But if the computers fail on some recent military fighter jets, the aircraft tumbles out of control within a second or two, and there is no way for the pilot to do anything about it. Airliners are for civilians who want to safely get from place to place; jet fighters are for pilots who are already at high risk in combat and need to be able to maneuver as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting killed.

The standard configuration of a pair of main wings and a tail with a vertical stabilizer and two horizontal stabilizers has proven itself over the course of a century of aviation. It may not be the most performant design, but it's safe and fully understood.  Therefore it continues to be used for airliners, with extremely rare exceptions (and no exceptions in recent years on the largest designs).  There's no need to increase risk with unusual, less understood designs, and nothing would be gained from them, so they aren't used.

Answer 7

they are more fuel efficient but not stable

the Kittie hawk probably would not have flown with out it the wright bros where severely performance limited.

the eurofighter can have it because it is fly by wire (basicly a computer handles the plane the pilot just tells it what to do)

and there are no passengers if the computer fails or you lose power to the controls the pilot HAS to bang out ( eject ) ( you cant give 500 people ejector seats you dont even get a parachute)

because as Mxsmanic said if the computers fail on a large airliner, the airplane continues to fly straight and level as with almost all planes

basically to answer your question while  they allow better performance canards are very unstable (they cause the plane to divert from straight and level )

and that is to unsafe for non military

Answer 8

Where else would you expect to find a tail?

Check definition of tail. As in 'tail end'.

Answer 9

In addition to what you've already learned here, I'll add that the tail at the rear is more forgiving with handling. It's not as quick to respond at the rear. In a miscalculated movement or maneuver, over or under compensating forces on the tail aren't critical factors when using the rudder. Where as the rudder in front would be overly sensitive.

Answer 10

It is at the front when the pilot reverses when he's missed his landing slot.

Answer 11

HAHA! If it was at the front it wouldn't be a tail! When was the last time you saw an animal with a tail at the front?

Answer 12

Presumably you're referring to the rudder, vertical stabiliser (fin), tail plane and elevators.

They're at the back because it's the best place for them. They are vital control and balance devices and have to be placed somewhere.

By being at the back end (the Tail) they are out of the way of the flight deck and are best placed for a convenient centre of gravity.

Traditional aeroplanes had a single engine at the front of the fuselage so to put the aerodynamic gubbins at the front would have caused balance problems.

Have a look at early aeroplanes which are "back to front" and you'll see how clumsy and cumbersome they are. The Wright Brothers' famous machine was like that and it's hardly an elegant aeroplane.

Some aircraft have been built with elevators at the front. When they're at the front they are called 'canards' not tail-planes.