Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Martian
Stabilators aren't exclusive to helos. Any aircraft on which the entire horizontal stabilizer actuates (as opposed to having elevator tabs) is technically said to have a stabilator.
Most if not all helicopters have a horizontal stabilizer of some form; it's more or less an aerodynamic requirement, especially for helos which (between you and me) have no business being in the air to begin with. However, the bulk of them are fixed. I don't recall ever having seen a helo that uses a fixed stabilizer with tabs (as in common in most fixed-wing craft) but I'm hardly an expert on the subject, so it's very possible that there's one out there somewhere.
|
Hrm, I guess that's where I've heard the term before but they are usually called a "full flying elevator" in the crowds I'm familiar with. Good to know the terminoligy. They could just be mixing terms with "full flying rudder" for all I know, I'm just a student and wannabe plane builder.
So the little nubs on every helicopter are a stabilizer? Intriguing. Friggin' contraptions.
Yeah, helicopters don't fly, they are just so ugly the earth repels them.