What, on an aircraft, is the 'empennage'?
Empennage Empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow. The term derives from the French language word "empenner" which means "to feather an arrow". Most aircraft feature an empennage incorporating vertical and horizontal stabilising surfaces which stabilise the flight dynamics of yaw and pitch, as well as housing control surfaces. In spite of effective control surfaces, many early aircraft that lacked a stabilising empennage were virtually unflyable. Even so-called "tailless aircraft"
Empennage banking turn, often referred to as a "coordinated turn". Some aircraft are fitted with a tail assembly that is hinged to pivot in two axes forward of the fin and stabiliser, in an arrangement referred to as a "movable tail". The entire empennage is rotated vertically to actuate the horizontal stabiliser, and sideways to actuate the fin. The aircraft's cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder and Emergency locator transmitter (ELT) are often located in the empennage, because the aft of the aircraft provides better protection for these in most aircraft crashes. In some aircraft trim devices are provided to eliminate