Stabilizer (aircraft)
Overview
 


In aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

, a stabilizer provides stability when the aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 is flying straight, and the airfoil of the horizontal stabilizer balances the forces acting on the aircraft.

While the vertical stabilizer and rudder are always placed on the empennage
Empennage
The empennage , also known as the tail or tail assembly, of most aircraft gives stability to the aircraft, in a similar way to the feathers on an arrow...

 (the rear of the aircraft or tail), or at the ends of aft-swept wings, the horizontal surfaces can be placed on the front or the rear.
 
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