Is it possible for a plane to fly normally without a vertical stabilizer?

Answer 1

Not likely since the vertical stabilizer and rudder are needed for yaw control.

Answer 2

A flying wing construction such as the B-2 Spirit can fly without a stabilizer, but any plane with wing and fuselage construction require a vertical stabilizer.

The reason for this is that a "tube"shaped fuselage has a negative effect in the direction stability. If you look at the B-2 Spirit, You can see that the airflow over the wing can stream around the entire fuselage. With a commercial airliner this isn't possible, so the airstream is "colliding" against the fuselage, it's sort of pushing the plane out of it's course.

The vertical stabilizer works as a wing, inducing a horizontal lift force, resulting in a momentum to suppres the momentum caused by the "colliding" airstream.

Without that opposing momentum, you get about the same idea like when a helicopter looses it's tail rotor...

Answer 3

is it possible for a plane to fly yes as the guy above me said. However that takes a lot more design issues to consider. Every other plane that has a vertical sabilizer if taken away will not be able to fly. Im sorry i it will but it will not have controled flight. The vertical sabilizers keep the plane going in a straight smooth line. Wind gusts will blow from the side of the airplane and the vertical stabilizer will keep the plane going straight. If it were not there the plane could go into a flat spin witch will eventualy result in a fatal crash. This is exactly what happend to the plane that lost its vertical stabilizer taking off out of kennedy shortly after september 11th. I think this was the answer to the question you were asking. I am training to be an airline pilot and the i use the vertical stabilizer all the time during landing. Its there for a reason.

Answer 4

A normal aircraft...no it cannot fly without a vertical stab. In one of the most dramatic incidents of this, a Japan Airlines B-747 lost 90% of it's vert stab. The crew kept it in the air for about 40min before crashing into a wooded hillside. In 2001, an airbus A-300 (?) completly lost it's vertical stab and crashed in NY......
However...an aircraft specially designed to fly without a vert stab can be accomplished such as the B2 or many of the Northrop designs from the late 40's and 50's (but even they had small vertical fins)
An aircraft without a vert stab requires digital fly-by-wire technology to constantly make yaw corrections...corrections far faster than a human pilot could ever do..The B2 uses computer controlled spoilers on the trailing edge to accomplish yaw control. Lose the computers...and this naturally unstable aircraft would tumble out of the sky..

Answer 5

There are planes with no vertical fin, like the Northrop B-2A Spirit, and they fly great. But a conventional plane designed with a vertical tail fin can't stay in the air for long without it.

Answer 6

I have been using Real Flight flight simulation on my computer to explore one wing flight, no wing flight, including aerobatics. The model plane I use is a Yack aerobatic. I knock the wings off on a wind sock that is close to the operator. Yesterday, I had the recorder going when I knoced a wing off and took off. As the plane left the ground, Real Flight detached the tail's rudder leaving me to figure how to fly the plane with one wing and no rudder. As you can see in the video below I posted on You Tube, the plane was "manageable' and even recovered from a snap role and a second maneuver I have developed that only works with one wing, I humbly call the "Selig". In the Selig, the knife edge plane leans over toward upside down, then the plane turns toward the high and only wing. The plane does a neat tight turn in the planes own space, ending up knife edge and only wing up in knife edge again. If you look closely, you can see the "Selig" twice. Before this time I would have said a Selig would not be possible without the tail's rudder. Real Flight simulator on the computer is vary real and I suspect a real RC model would complete the same maneuver. I can only say that the Real Flight has been incredible for me. he cost of the planes I have crashed has been "0'.


One wing with no tail flight



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvAoccdFnzM




Can a plane fly and land with one wing----No wings??? Take off and landings with one and no wings on same Yack:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRip7CMNGHM
Spike Selig

Answer 7

If it doesnt have a high sweep wing it is possible..maybe something like a skyhawk of piper cherokee...you have plenty of dihedral effect on those to fly with wings and horizontal only...although this has never been tested so it would be hard to prove...but if you know aerodynamics well enough...you should know it is able to be done...in a high sweep wing you need the vertical and rudder to fight dutch roll tendency...good luck!

Jonathan S
ATP-LRJET,HS-125
CFI-AGI

Answer 8

it does no longer be plausible. One significant reason is the shortcoming of oxygen required to burn a familiar jet engine. you may desire to fly a particular plane to the better limits of the atomsphere even to work out the darkness of area and the curvature of the earth yet you may desire to no longer bypass immediately into area. A vehicle like the return and forth makes use of jets that hire 2 chemical ingredients that are hypergolic. this suggests that once mixed jointly they react violently, it incredibly is the inspiration for the jet burns in area. No oxygen required.

Answer 9

Well have you seen some of the B-17's returning from bomb runs in Germany during WWII?

Answer 10

if you want a plane to do rolls on your trip, sure, the fuselage is roundish so it needs a verticial stablizer becuase its like a wing too, except instead of it for lift, its for balance