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In aeronautics, a tailless aircraft is an aircraft with no other horizontal aerodynamic surface besides its main wing.[1] It may still have a fuselage, vertical tail fin (vertical stabilizer), and/or vertical rudder.
Theoretical advantages of the tailless configuration include low parasitic drag as on the Horten H.IV soaring glider and good stealth characteristics as on the Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber. Disadvantages include a potential sensitivity to trim.
Tailless aircraft have been flown since the pioneer days; the first stable aeroplane to fly was the tailless Dunne D.5, in 1910. The most successful tailless configuration has been the tailless delta, especially for combat aircraft, though the Concorde airliner is also a delta configuration.
NASA has used the 'tailless' description for the novel X-36 research aircraft which has a canard foreplane but no vertical fin.
- ^ Wragg, David W. (1974). A Dictionary of Aviation (1st American ed.). New York: Frederick Fell, Inc. p. 259. ISBN 0-85045-163-9.