Vertical stabilizer
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[[Image:B-29-silverplate.gif|thumb|right|[[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] showing conventional single vertical stabilizer]]
The '''vertical stabilizers''', or '''fins''', of [[aircraft]], [[missile]]s or [[bomb]]s are typically found on the aft end of the [[fuselage]] or body, and are intended to control [[yaw]].
On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards. These are also known as the vertical tail, and are part of an aircraft's [[empennage]]. The trailing end of the stabilizer is typically movable, and called the [[rudder]]; this allows the aircraft pilot to control yaw.
Often [[radio navigation|navigational radio]] or [[airband]] [[transceiver]] [[antenna (radio)|antennas]] are placed on or inside the vertical tail. In most aircraft with three jet engines, the vertical stabilizer houses the central engine or engine inlet duct, as in the [[Lockheed L-1011]], [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10]], [[McDonnell Douglas MD-11]], [[Boeing 727]], [[Tupolev Tu-154]], and the [[Yakovlev Yak-40]].
==Types of vertical stabilizers==
===Single===
====Conventional tail====
The tail is configured vertically, and the [[Stabilizer (aircraft)|horizontal stabilizer]] is directly mounted to the empennage. The [[Lockheed L-188 Electra]] is a typical example of this configuration.
====T-tail====
{{main|T-tail}}
A [[T-tail]] has the horizontal stabilizer mounted at the top of the vertical stabilizer. It is commonly seen on rear-engine aircraft, such as the [[Bombardier CRJ200]] or [[Douglas DC-9]], as well as the [[Silver Arrow]] small airplane, and most high performance [[glider|sailplane]]s. The only operational fighter aircraft to use the T-tail configuration were the McDonnell [[F-101 Voodoo]] and the Lockheed [[F-104 Starfighter]].
T-tails are often incorporated on configurations with fuselage mounted engines to keep the tail away from the engine exhaust plume.
T-tail aircraft are more susceptible to pitch-up at high angles of attack. This pitch-up results from a reduction in the horizontal tail's lifting capability as it passes through the wake of the wing at moderate angles of attack.
T-tails present additional structural challenges since the horizontal tail loads must be transmitted through the vertical tail.
====Cruciform tail====
{{main|Cruciform tail}}
The cruciform tail is arranged like a cross, the horizontal stabilizer intersects the vertical tail somewhere near the middle. The [[PBY Catalina]] uses this configuration.
===Multiple stabilizers===
====Twin tail====
{{main|Twin tail}}
[[Image:F-15-2x.png|thumb|right|The [[F-15]] and its twin tails]]
Rather than a single vertical stabilizer, a twin tail has two. These are vertically arranged, and intersect or are mounted to the ends of the horizontal stabilizer. The [[Beechcraft Model 18]] and many modern [[military aircraft]] such as the American [[F-14]], [[F-15]](left), and [[F-18]] use this configuration. The F-18 and [[F-22 Raptor]] have tailfins that are canted outward, to the point that they have some authority as horizontal control surfaces, both aircraft are designed to deflect their rudders inward during takeoff to increase pitching moment.
==== Triple tail ====
[[Image:Columbine III aircraft.png|right|thumb|A [[Lockheed Constellation]] with a triple tail]]
A variation on the twin tail, it has three vertical stabilizers. The best example of this configuration is the [[Lockheed Constellation]]. On the Constellation it was done to give the airplane maximum vertical stabilizer area, but keep the overall height low enough so that it could fit into maintenance [[hangar]]s.
====V-tail====
{{main|V-tail}}
A V-tail has no distinct vertical or horizontal stabilizers. Rather, they are merged into control surfaces known as [[List of aviation, aerospace and aeronautical terms#ruddervators|ruddervators]] which control both pitch and yaw. The arrangement looks like the letter V, and is also known as a ''butterfly tail''. The [[Beechcraft Bonanza|Beechcraft Bonanza Model 35]] uses this configuration, as does the [[F-117 Nighthawk]], and many of [[Richard Schreder]]'s HP series of [[homebuilt]] [[glider]]s.
[[Image:VEZ.png|right|thumb|[[Rutan VariEze]] with vertical stabilizers on the ends of the wings also serving as [[Wingtip device|winglets]]]]
====Winglet====
[[Wingtip device|Winglet]]s served double duty on [[Burt Rutan]]'s rear wing forward [[canard (aeronautics)|canard]] [[pusher configuration]] [[Rutan VariEze|VariEze]] and [[Rutan Long-EZ|Long-EZ]], acting as both a wingtip device and a vertical stabilizer. Several other derivatives of these and other similar aircraft use this design element.
==References==
[[Category:Aircraft components]]
[[Category:Aviation terminology]]
[[de:Seitenleitwerk]]
[[hu:Függőleges vezérsík]]