Tailplane

A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes. Not all fixed-wing aircraft have tailplanes. Canards, tailless and flying wing aircraft have no separate tailplane, while in v-tail aircraft the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and the tail-plane and elevator are combined to form two diagonal surfaces in a V layout. The tailplane provides stability and control.

In addition the tailplane helps adjust for changes in the center of pressure, and center of gravity caused by changes in speed and attitude, or when fuel is burned off, or when cargo or payload is dropped from the aircraft.

Tailplane types

The tailplane comprises the tail-mounted fixed horizontal stabiliser and movable elevator. Besides its planform, it is characterised by:

  • Number of tailplanes - from 0 (tailless or canard) to 3 (Roe triplane)
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    Latest News for: horizontal stabilizer

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    Report Reveals What Went Wrong With Delta Plane That Crash-Landed and Flipped Over

    The Daily Beast 20 Mar 2025
    Transportation Safety Board of Canada ... 17 injured 21 people ... “A large portion of the tail, including most of the vertical stabilizer and the entire horizontal stabilizer, became detached during the roll,” the report said ... Read it at NBC News ... ....
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    Landing gear at center of investigation into Delta plane crash that could have killed everyone ...

    The Daily Mail 20 Mar 2025
    The captain of the plane had worked for Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta, for 18 years ... A large portion of the tail, including most of the vertical stabilizer and the entire horizontal stabilizer, became detached during the roll.' ... Minnesota. .
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    Fish back in barren Basalt reservoir? Possibility could increase after summer

    Aspen Times 19 Mar 2025
    CPW Dam Safety Engineer Jenna Svoboda updated Basalt Town Council last week with potential plans to stabilize the Lake Christine Dam ... “The primary goal of this project is to stabilize the slope ...
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    NTSB says pilot in Naples Jan. 1 plane crash followed protocol: preliminary report

    Naples Daily News 11 Mar 2025
    The airplane stabilized but was no longer over the runway, and the pilot maintain(ed) a shallow descent to avoid another stall ... The left horizontal stabilizer was almost completely separated from its mounting position," the report said.
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