Performance Enhancement of a Vertical Tail Model with Sweeping Jets

What is it about?

The vertical tail of multi-engine transport aircraft is typically sized to overcome an one-engine-inoperative event (OEI) during take-off. The asymmetric thrust results in a yaw moment which has to be counterbalanced by the side force generated by the vertical tail plane (VTP). Since during take-off the aircraft velocity is low, the VTP area has to oversized compared to the requirements of stability during cruise flight which leads to additional drag, weight and finally increased fuel consumption. If one wants to decrease the VTP size, the side force loss due to the reduced area has to be compensated using active flow control (AFC) for example.

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