Meaning & use
Tailplane
Last updated
The horizontal stabilizing surface at the rear of an aircraft that controls pitch.
See it in a sentence
Ice buildup on the tailplane can seriously affect an aircraft's handling.
Engineers inspected the tailplane for stress fractures after the hard landing.
A note on using this word
Chiefly British aviation terminology; American English more often uses 'horizontal stabilizer.'
Words with a similar meaning
horizontal stabilizer
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