Crossword clues for tailplane
Wiktionary
n. A horizontal airfoil, at the rear of an aircraft, to which the elevator is attached; usually associated with the tailfin
WordNet
n. the horizontal airfoil of an aircraft's tail assembly that is fixed and to which the elevator is hinged [syn: horizontal stabilizer, horizontal stabiliser]
Wikipedia
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 function of the tailplane is to provide stability and control. In particular, the tailplane helps adjust for changes in the center of pressure or center of gravity caused by changes in speed and attitude, fuel consumption, or dropping cargo or payload.
Usage examples of "tailplane".
Worn-out shuttle main engines, too beat-up to be human-rated anymore, are being recycled: you can make a pretty useful throwaway booster out of a shuttle tailplane and a cargo pallet.
Nose, wings, and tailplane crumpled and tore, barbed fragments spinning off into the night.
They dropped neatly under the Rumpler's tailplane, and the German pilot banked steeply to port in a climbing turn to give his rear gunner a shot at them.
The grey camouflage paint of the after fuselage and tailplanes was riddled with bullet and cannon shells, an aileron was shredded and the port outer engine out of commission, saturated in oil.
The tailplanes of the two helicopters were too high, so he concentrated on the cockpit areas at the front, the Sandcruiser's eight tons of armoured steel crumpling the perspex with ease.
The morning sunlight glanced off the windows of the terminal, highlighted the arrogant tailplanes of perhaps a dozen airliners.
Each drops a long skinny egg and then their tailplanes visibly move and they angle upwards and pass overhead.