T-Tail Question

T-Tail - We all know that many of the jet airliners and regional jets have a T-Tail and bear a striking resemblance to the classic Boeing 727 and Douglas DC-9. We can also find examples of twin engined planes with T-Tails.

 

I am currently interested in single engine tractor with T-Tail such as:

Piper PA-38 Tomahawk

Diamond HK36 Super Dimona and Grob G 109

Pilatus PC-12

Can a sim pilot tell the difference between these planes with their T-Tail versus a more conventional low-tail, like you can tell the difference between a high-wing-Cessna versus low-wing-Piper? Do these planes have a noticeable and distinctive handling character?

 

Thanks in advance

JD

Well, my father always said he hated flying the 727 in a crosswind (LONG time UAL pilot). Apparently the surface winds get in under the horizontal stab and have a very strong effect in both pitch and yaw. That's what he used to say, anyway. When I was flying the PA-38 Tomahawk (Tomahawk 25818) in Yuma, I didn't notice any difference, however, from the gliders I used to fly long ago. Having said that, it may be a function of height off the ground, as to the wind catching it oddly. Let's face it, the Tomahawk tail is just a hair shorter than the 727 tail.

BTW, just an aside: the top of the T-Tail on a C-5A has a hatch dead center of the whole assembly, reached through a hatch in the rear of the upper deck not to mention a LOT of ladders, that turns out to be a very nice, quiet place to take a female crew chief when one is supposed to be supervising the loading of one's maintenance vans for return from det...darn nice place to spend a warm Iwakuni evening!

Pat☺

Within FSX I doubt you'd notice the difference, depending though on how the developer set up the flight characteristics -- it's possible for them to eliminate the propwash affecting the horizontal tail, which is the major difference in handling with a T-tail, but I don't know whether they've done so; perhaps someone has.

Thanks for the information,

my new found fascination with T-Tails is declining,

I will probably still them out but without the rush.

 

Thanks

JD

Well, my father always said he hated flying the 727 in a crosswind (LONG time UAL pilot).

PhantomTweak: When I was flying for Eastern Airlines, I always found the DC-9 much more difficult than the B-727 in a crosswind. The DC-9, also a T-Tail, of course, had a much stiffer wing and a much shorter landing gear than the 727 which meant that it bounced around more in the air and could take much less wing low into the wind on touchdown. Obviously, a matter of personal perspective.

 

JD-Slow-Thumbs: if the developer has done the flight characteristics reasonably accurately, you should notice a difference between a high-wing and a low-wing airplane in a crosswind. The T-Tail probably less so except in a side-slip. What you should also notice is a significant difference between a Cessna wing and a Piper wing. Cessna's wing is a fairly conventional airfoil and a little "slippery"; the Piper wing is fatter, which can help with stall characteristics, but - trust me on this one from rw experience - is more difficult to recover from if you get behind the power curve. This can be especially noticeable on landing...even though the low wing is in a nice ground effect, don't let the airplane slow down too soon because you might not have the power/altitude/attitude combination for a recovery with the nose up in landing configuration. I made the mistake of sitting in the back of a 180 Cherokee when the new pilot got too slow, despite my yelling for power, and we hit so hard that it bent the the tail tie-down knuckle. I've never not sat at the controls of anything but a commercial airliner since.

I've never not sat at the controls of anything but a commercial airliner since.

 

Boy! Do I know what you mean! There are few I can trust enough that way, and none are anywhere near new.

 

Also, you've described the differences very nicely, except that I'd say that the Piper wing used on the Warrior, Archer, et al is definitely more forgiving than the old "Hershey Bar" wing, and closer to the Cessna in behavior, though still perhaps a little less forgiving near MCA. Of course those differences are somewhat exaggerated at high density altitudes. And don't forget that laminar flow wing on the Musketeer and on the Grumman American singles -- very sensitive to airspeed.