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Y-tail (V-tail with ventral fin)

What is a Y-tail? · Standard part · basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio

Also called: y-tail, y tail aircraft, y tail drone, inverted y tail, v tail with ventral fin, reaper tail, y-tail uav, y tail rc plane, ventral fin v tail

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

sizes
4 in table

Notes

  • Bhattacharya et al. describe the Y-tail as a V-tail with a rudder added at the rear, which improves yaw stability and has less interference drag than a conventional tail.
  • Its performance depends on the V dihedral and the length of the vertical stub (Bhattacharya et al.). The ventral fin takes over pure yaw control, easing the coupled ruddervator problem of a plain V-tail (FAA PHAK ch.6).
  • Their maritime UAV design used NACA 2412 for the horizontal elements and NACA 0024 for the vertical, with a 105 cm tail arm on a 165 cm fuselage.
  • Used on: LearAvia Lear Fan 2100, MQ-9 Reaper, Waiex.
  • The file is a reference example built by Xem Studio from the numbers above. Sizes the sources do not fix are illustrative; scale the example to your own vehicle.

Y-tail size chart

parametervalue or rangesource
Example UAV tail arm / fuselage length105 cm / 165 cmBhattacharya et al.
Example vertical tail area0.1568 m^2 on 0.549 m^2 reference areaBhattacharya et al.
Example airfoilsNACA 2412 (horizontal), NACA 0024 (vertical)Bhattacharya et al.
Reference buildV panels as V-tail example plus 80 mm ventral fincomputed

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

engrXiv (Bhattacharya et al., ICMMM 2023)Design and Computational Analysis of Y-tail Configuration for Maritime UAVwebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
FAAPilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25), Ch. 6 Flight ControlswebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts

Free files

★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

y-tail-taily tail layout: horizontal span 250 × chord 112, vertical 80 × 90 mm on a 500 mm boom, NACA 0009 surfacesSTEP · STL
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Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=y-tail

Y-tail (V-tail with ventral fin), isometric render of a generated part
Render of y-tail-tail from the free STEP; not to scale.

Fits with

Tail volume coefficient (horizontal and vertical tail sizing), isometric render of a generated part
Tail volume coefficient (horizontal and vertical tail sizing)19 sizes★ 1 file
Tail moment arm (tail lever arm ratios), isometric render of a generated part
Tail moment arm (tail lever arm ratios)11 sizes★ 1 file
Conventional tail (low-mounted stabiliser and single fin), isometric render of a generated part
Conventional tail (low-mounted stabiliser and single fin)5 sizes★ 1 file
T-tail (stabiliser on top of the fin), isometric render of a generated part
T-tail (stabiliser on top of the fin)4 sizes★ 1 file
Cruciform tail (stabiliser part-way up the fin), isometric render of a generated part
Cruciform tail (stabiliser part-way up the fin)2 sizes★ 1 file
V-tail (butterfly tail with ruddervators), isometric render of a generated part
V-tail (butterfly tail with ruddervators)8 sizes★ 1 file

Questions

Which aircraft use a Y-tail?

Bhattacharya et al. list the LearAvia Lear Fan 2100 and MQ-9 Reaper among others.