We have previously considered the need for an all moving horizontal stabilizer on supersonic aircraft. Without it, the aircraft became uncontrollable in the trans-sonic region of flight. There was a lot of research going on in
the 40's and 50's. I remember hearing in the news about Chuck Yeager, flying
the X-1. They discovered that need for the all moving horizontal tail through that
research.
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| North American F-86 Sabre |
The F-86 would sometimes go supersonic in a dive. It would become uncontrollable. They eventually added an all moving horizontal tail surface to correct this. I wish that I could find one with this horizontal stabilizer.
Soon, planes came along that had the power to travel supersonic in level flight. The F-102 Delta Dagger was one.
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| F-102 Delta Dagger |
At the beginning of its development, It could not seem to get past the sound barrier even though it had been designed to do so. More research revealed the need for the Whitcomb Area Rule. If we draw an imaginary line down the central axis of the aircraft front to back and calculate the area of the vertical slices, the area needs to stay roughly equal in the central portions. This calculation includes where the wings are attached. The fuselage must get smaller where the wings attach to reduce the overall area.
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| F-102 Delta Dagger |
They applied that rule to the f-102 and it would then travel supersonic. You can see how the fuselage reduces in cross section where the wings attach.
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| B-1 Lancer |
Knowing about this, we can notice it in other supersonic aircraft.
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| Convair B-58A Hustler |
Today, we take such things for granted in our aircraft. Thanks to those who worked so hard to make these discoveries.
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