Kmh1956 From Bermuda, joined Jun 2005, 3324 posts, RR: 8 Posted (5 years 3 months 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 1820 times:
OK...as I have stated on numerous other posts, consider me an idiot when it comes to things technical and mechanical...but I have to ask....is it just me, or are the tails on many Russian-built airliners exceptionally tall? We don't get many flying in to Bermuda but there was one a few weeks ago, and the tail really caught my eye. It was enormous, so I decided to look at photographs of some Russian-built airliners, and many of them seem to have these massive tails.
Don't ask me which airliner it was, because it was a while back, but if this is the case....is there a reason for this?
(Also, if I'm in the wrong forum, please just shift this!!)
Thanks
'Somebody tell me why I'm on my own if there's a soulmate for everyone' :Natasha Bedingfield
Metroliner From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2007, 1058 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (5 years 3 months 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 1766 times:
Hi Kmh1956,
What was the type? Did you catch a reg.? Il-96s (four wing-mounted engines, like an A340-200 - might have been Cubana?) can look very tall thanks to them being a slight shrink from the Il-86 but with a similar tailplane. If it was an Il-62, with four jets mounted on the rear fuselage, the T-tail design is very tall to get the horizontal stabiliser out of the wing wash when the aircraft stalls and retain some elevator authority. Other than that, other T-tailed jets can look very high-finned, so if it was a Tu-134 or 154 (seems unlikely, given their short range, but who knows?) that might be what you saw.
I think it was probably most likely an Il-96, though. However, I've not noticed them being particularly large-tailed.
If it was an Antonov or Ilyushin freighter, that might be your explanation. The An-124 and Il-76 both have mahoosive tails!
Sovietjet From Bulgaria, joined Mar 2003, 2339 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (5 years 3 months 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 1719 times:
Quoting Kmh1956 (Reply 2): Yeah, that's what it was. that tail looked HUGE. At the time, there was a 727, a 777 and (I think) a 340 at the airport as well.
First this begs the question...what was an Il-62 doing in Bermuda ?. There's only about 20 of them flying passengers, the rest are military/government.
The tail on it isn't THAT big IMO but it also has to do with the fact that the Il-62 has no hydraulic boosters for the controls, so a taller tail would mean a longer moment arm and less work for the pilot
Good question...we do get some interesting stuff in here sometimes for refuelling or emergency medical landings.....but usually if it's an emergency we'll hear about it in the news. When I saw it, it wasn't parked in the same area as the usual scheduled passenger planes, but further down where they put the cargo, mail, and unexpected visitors....
Quoting 2H4 (Reply 4): I always thought the VC-10s tail looked immense:
Yeah, but not as big as this thing was...it looked out of place. BTW...I LOVED the VC-10; flew on her down to Florida back in 1974 when BOAC (as it was then) had direct flights from BDA...brilliant!! Loud and powerful.
'Somebody tell me why I'm on my own if there's a soulmate for everyone' :Natasha Bedingfield
That's the one....looked like a cargo flight, perhaps....don't recall markings, and couldn't see reg from where I was.....but that's definitely what it was. (Bear in mind, I haven't laid eyes on a VC-10 since '74!!)
'Somebody tell me why I'm on my own if there's a soulmate for everyone' :Natasha Bedingfield
Lemmy From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 256 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (5 years 3 months 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 1479 times:
Quoting 2H4 (Reply 4): I always thought the VC-10s tail looked immense
Same here. There's a great picture in Handling the Big Jets of someone changing a light on a VC-10's tail, and he's waaaay up there. After seeing that picture, I though the VC-10 was a much bigger airplane than it actually is.
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From Bermuda, joined Jun 2005, 3324 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2007, 1058 posts, 
However, I've not noticed them being particularly large-tailed. 
From Bulgaria, joined Mar 2003, 2339 posts, 
From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 8950 posts, 
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