Mooney Acft

[HydroBug]

Having a discussion with another old "airport bum". He said the Mooney "reverse" vertical stabilizer was to make the design more "identifiable". I don't think so. What then could the reason be?

[Denny of Oakland]

In the Used Aircraft Guide 6th edition Volume two. page 85 states "the distinctive backwards tail no, it does not sweep forward: it's vetical." Really is is for stability only, it could go either forward of aft and from what I have read and researched it was for mostly looks to help it sell.

[Erich Freymann]

As far as I know, the Forward sweep of the vertical tail does have an aerodynamic function, even if only actually applied for marketing reasons. The forward sweep acts to reduce roll coupling when applying rudder input. This reduces the amount of required aileron input needed to fly a slip, for example. If you look at aerobatic aircraft, you notice nearly all rudders sweep forward from the bottom, for the same reason. Precision aerobatics requires as little control interaction as possible. It's very hard to fly a knife-edge if you have to input full opposite aileron to compensate for roll coupling.

[HydroBug]

Thanks Guys, The best I was able to come up with in the mean while was, "The reverse (straight) vertical stabilizer provides grater lateral control during high angle of attack at reduced speed (as opposed to the "swept" design)". Stability seems to be the common thread. Tks agn. from The 'Burgh.