Hi All,
All I can add to my previous post on this subject is that the U.S. never had a jet engine till Britain gave them one (Correct me if I am wrong), as for reading the 2009 post I was just commenting on a subject post like all other forumites, I am the first to hold my hands up and say I only know a little which is why I find this forum very imformative and love learning more on a subject I have enjoyed over my life time. Or am I wrong about this and the Forum ? and it is only for those with an higher intellect with actual aeronautical knowledge that comes from first hand experience of Flying or Working in the Industry.
The amount of snobbery that exists in life amazes me and to have it here on a subject I have enthused about since childhood is beyond belief, for cry’n out loud were meant to be adults, all forumites have the right to post opinions and some obviously know more about the subject than others, but I joined this forum not only to learn more but to be involved with like minded people but the more I read it seems that some behave like spoilt kids and only their view is the correct one. 😡 Sorry to all for the rant back on subject.
I found these following statements on wiki :- All flying tailplanes were used from early times and the private venture monoplane de Havilland DH.77 (first flying in 1929) offering for a high performance Royal Air Force interceptor used an all flying tail.
Stabilators were developed to achieve adequate pitch control in supersonic flight, and are almost universal on modern military combat aircraft. All[citation needed] non-delta-winged supersonic aircraft use stabilators because with conventional control surfaces, shock waves can form past the elevator hinge, causing severe mach tuck.
The British wartime Miles M.52 supersonic project was designed with stabilators. Though the design only flew as a scale rocket, its all-flying tail was tested on both a Spitfire and the Miles “Gillette” Falcon.[5] The contemporary American supersonic project, the Bell X-1, adapted its variable incidence tailplane into an all-moving tailplane (based on the Miles M.52 project data) and was operated successfully in 1947.[6] The North American F-86 Sabre, the first U.S. Air Force aircraft which could go supersonic (although in a shallow dive) was introduced with a conventional horizontal stabilizer with elevators, which was eventually replaced with a stabilator.
When stabilators can move differentially to perform the roll control function of ailerons, as they do on many modern fighter aircraft they are known as tailerons or rolling tails. A canard surface, looking like a stabilator but not stabilizing like a tailplane, [7] can also be mounted in front of the main wing in a canard configuration (Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender).
Stabilators on military aircraft have the same problem of too light control forces (inducing overcontrol) as general aviation aircraft. In older jet fighter aircraft, a resisting force was generated within the control system, either by springs or a resisting hydraulic force, rather than by an external anti-servo tab. For example in the North American F-100 Super Sabre, springs were attached to the control stick to provide increasing resistance to pilot input. In modern fighters, control inputs are moderated by computers (“fly by wire”), and there is no direct connection between the pilot’s stick and the stabilator.
Also
Stabilators or all-moving tails
In transonic flight shock waves generated by the tailplane render the elevator unusable. An all-moving tail was developed by the British for the Miles M.52, but first saw actual transonic flight on the Bell X-1; fortunately Bell Aircraft Corporation had included an elevator trim device that could alter the angle of attack of the entire tailplane. This saved the program from a costly and time-consuming rebuild of the aircraft.
Transonic and supersonic aircraft now have all-moving tailplanes to counteract Mach tuck and maintain maneuverability when flying faster than the critical Mach number. Normally called a stabilator, this configuration is often referred to as an “all-moving” or “all-flying” tailplane.
Geoff.:D
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