T-tail vs. straight tail

[Martin Di Lorenzo]

I've heard and read a lot regarding this issue. My only T-tail experience is on a Tomahawk, and honestly I could not feel any difference in terms of handling. But I know that some pilots have bad comments regarding T-tails in small planes. My concern is basically in the Arrow's and Lance's T-tails: should I be affraid of having a T-tail plane?
Thanks

[SeeAndAvoid]

I got my private in a Traumahawk, and flew quite a bit in t-tail arrows, mostly turbos. I never noticed any difference and I have equal time in straight tail Arrows and even more hours in Cessnas and straight tailed Pipers. Lance's have more problems than their tail, be careful, its documented in the two aircraft buying books I have. I read somewhere that a broker wouldn't pay any more for a t-tailed arrow over an older straight tail, and thought it may even be worth less. I find this ludicrous, but if that helps drive down t-tail arrow prices, all the better for buyers who want them. I'd love one, but the initial expense, insurance, and maintenance is pricing me out of it.
Chris

My Turbo Arrow IV is a t-tail and I like how it flies. I realize that Piper added the t-tail mainly to make it look more sexy, but it does have some advantages (and disadvantages). The advantage is that power and flap changes don't affect the tail as much as a conventional tail. I can add full flaps and you get very little variation in pitch. This is real important on instrument approaches.

Landings will be a little more challenging. But once you get the hang of it, there's never a problem. The t-tail makes it a little tougher to clean snow and ice off the tail, but other than that, I wouldn't worry about it.

And yes, there were some years for the Lance that had some real problems with the t-tail design.

[HighFLyer]

T-tails have no great benefits. Scottd mentioned a few of their high points. They also recover from spins better because the the vertical tail is not in the disrupted airflow from the horizontal stabilizer. They are however harder to preflight, have more complex internal workings, and are more expensive to fix if something goes wrong.

[This message has been edited by HighFLyer (edited 05-12-2001).]