Drag Reduction Potential of Tailless Designs

Technology Prioritization: Selected Technology Set

Vertical Tail Impact on Minimum Drag

0

2

4

6

8

10

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

Twin-Tails MRF Design

Centerline Tail

F-16XL

Vertical Tail Drag Increment (% C

Do

)

Mach Number

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Substantiating Data for Drag Reduction

Minimum drag data for two configurations employing vertical tails shows that the vertical tail accounts for 5% to 10% of the total airplane minimum drag at a cruise Mach number of 0.9. Configuration features like area distribution and interference effects results in variation of the tail contribution. Nevertheless, 5% CDmin is still significant.