Shape of tail feathers

[asra]

Anybody out there tell me if anyone has considered designing a set of tail feathers like the "T" tail of a Tomohawk aircraft? Does the rudder need to extend above the horizontal stab to a similar length as below?Does the airflow from the prop have a corkscrew effect similar to fixed wing aircraft, and if so would this have an unequal effect on the Stab?Ted

[asra]

Ted....wat the hell yar doin ear......6 topics tonite, is the cold wetha getin 2 URuss....A1014 NT....gods country

[birdy]

Basicaly Ted,if youv got a horisontal and virtical surface covering the full flow of the prop wash, then you'll get maximum effect to any inputs and counter most of the torque roll.A true T tails only draw back could be strength.But no, it wouldn't matter.Ignorance is bliss............but only till you realise you were.You can always get the answer you want, if you ask enough experts.

[asra]

Birdy, there are heaps of pusher type ultralight FW with a t type tail getting about. So why not a gyro??Surely its possible? Obviously one would not use it in a 'rodeo' type set of manoeuvers like a musterer may attempt, but for a cross country type gyro?? Just thnking outside the 9 dots....Ted

[asra]

Russ, What cold weather??? I haven't even considered putting a jumper on yet, and we had a -4 on Saturday morning.Really I had been looking at the topics on the website and thought... it was like watching a dog scratch for fleas... Slowly but surely "sleep causing".If I've just managed to offend anyone please email me and I'll send you a pic of me so you can throw darts at it.Ted

[NiqueNaque]

Ted.I'll have one...One thing to think of when you have a t tail is a rotor strike... ooops. One tail gooorrrn...Cheers,Nick.

[asra]

So Nick, what are the odds of a prop strike taking out your tail? Any figures on how often it normally occurs?Ted

[NiqueNaque]

Ted,If you're a novice, pretty high. I did, fortunately on the ground and at low speed, the product of flap on a dead still day.For the people who've worked out how to wind up their rotors the chances are a little more slim, though not improbable.Hope this helps,Nick.

[asra]

Nick, so it was rotor strike not prop strike? If one had a tall tail then its the same problem. What I'm thinking of is a T tail so the Horizontal stab is just above the centreline of the Prop thrust. Hence the reason for the question regarding the corkscrewing of the thrust, and would it have an unequal effect of the Stab.While Birdy had a shot at the question its dissapointing to note that others simply ignored the query.Ted

[Tim]

The swirling airstream hits the top of one side of the stab and the bottom of the other. It has a benificial effect of reducing the torque roll in the airframe and creating a slight forward component of thrust, at the expense of slightly increased drag.Tim McClure

[asra]

Ted,Next time you are at YCAB just peek thru the door of hanger 59 and you will see the best type of tail to have.The only way to make them better is put it further back,wich is what we are starting to do now.M Barker

[asra]

Murray, Ok will do next time I'm down there.Tim, thank you for your reply. Can I assume then that the direction of the prop is of paramount importance when considering the direction of the rotor?Ted

[Echo]

quote:Originally posted by Ted EgglestonMurray, Ok will do next time I'm down there.Tim, thank you for your reply. Can I assume then that the direction of the prop is of paramount importance when considering the direction of the rotor?Ted[?]I've read that question a few times but I cant make sense of it[xx(]Maybe the direction of the rotor is clockwise in the northern hemisphere

[asra]

Echo, Thank you for your question. As I understand it there are two torque effects on the Gyro. One being rotor and the other being prop. So , lets assume you have a counter clockwise rotor, would this require you to have a anticlockwise or clockwise Prop for stability calculations?The corkscrewing effect of the prop blast it appears would have an unequal effect on a "T" type tail because the top section recieves an uninterupted airflow whilst the bottom half has the vertical fin effecting some part of the airflow. So to maximise stability should the tail feathers be 4 directional(full tail), rather than 3 directional (T tail)Is there a predominate side for tip overs (fly over)as in left or right? Do the statistics show one or the other? And is there a relationship with the rotor direction or torque effectas to which side is more likely the tip over direction?Ted

[asra]

Ted, that bottle of smart pills.... should only take ONE a DAY !!!keep goin mate..... your got em thinkin now!!!cheers,Phil