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Old 09-08-2012, 07:54 PM
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Treetop64 Treetop64 is offline
What the heck...?
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Redwood City, California
Posts: 513
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Quote:
Originally Posted by secretone View Post
In one word: no. So why do I shoot off vertical stabilizers of certain aircraft (offline) only to see them continue flying? This morning I shot the vertical stabilizer off of a Ju-87G Kanonenvogel (offline) with a 37mm shell from a p-39 and it kept right on going on its merry way! I am thinking that something must be wrong with certain flight models.
Actually, aircraft that fly with a vertical stabilizer can still fly without it, but at a loss of longitudinal stability, and at greater risk of entering - and staying in - a flat spin in some conditions. An aircraft just doesn't fall out of the sky just because it lost it's vertical tail.

Now, if an aircraft loses it's entire elevator control or a wing...