Flight Investigation of Effect of Various Vertical-Tail Modifications on the Directional Stability and Control Characteristics of the P-63A-1 Airplane (AAF No. 42-68889)

摘要

Because the results of preliminary flight tests had indicated that the P-63A-1 pursuit possessed insufficient directional stability, vertical-tail modifications, including an enlarged vertical tail, were suggested. The enlarged vertical tail involved only a slight increase in total vertical-tail area from 23.75 to 26.58 square feet, but a relatively much larger increase in geometric aspect ratio from 1.24 to 1.73. Tests results showed that the enlarged vertical tail approximately doubled the directional stability.