Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Yes. That's not theoretical requirement for tailplane.

But as the source you provides say: "indeed most aircraft operate with negative tail lift most of the time."

In practice all commercial aircraft have the center of mass so much forward that require negative lift for stability. If you look at the cross section of the horizontal stabilizer, it's like wing upside down.



My understanding is that airlines like to load their planes such that the CG is such that the tail contributes basically no lift, to minimise drag and fuel consumption.

See also:

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/34963/is-a380s-...

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/30400/will-opti...




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: