Design Question / Help
 

I appreciate anyone that might be able to help me figure this out.

I am building a new sport jet that will be about 80" in lenght and thinking about a 78" to 82" wing span with about 1400 to 1500 square inches of wing area.

Question: What span should the horizontal stab be? I want to make sure I have good control.

thanks,

JR Gautreaux

RE: Design Question / Help
 

Nobody can really predict that, since it depends on your design. But, stab area (projected through the fuselage) of approximately 20% of the wing area (also projected through the fuselage) or larger, is a good start. Better to have a little too much than too little. If you want to go into the design process with a little more confidence, and don't want to read a lot of technical information, then simply collect images of many successful jets, compare them, and see what seems to work best. We all learn from our predecessors.

If your design allows the option, try and design it so that, without changing the fuselage, you can try different tail parts. Don't get locked in to a particular configuration before you've successfully flown the plane. (!)