Definition
An airplane configuration in which the horizontal stabilizer and elevator are mounted at the rear of the fuselage, behind the main wing. This is the conventional layout for most fixed-wing aircraft, with the tail surfaces providing pitch stability and control by acting on air flowing past them after it leaves the wing.
Plain English
The standard airplane shape, with the small horizontal tail at the back of the aircraft, behind the main wings.
Context Anchor
Seen when comparing conventional airplane control layouts with canard layouts in flight control systems discussions.
Derivation
‘Aft’ is a nautical word meaning ‘toward the rear of a vessel,’ carried over into aviation. So ‘aft-tail’ simply means the tail is at the back — as opposed to a canard, where a small horizontal surface is placed at the front.
Why Pilots Care
Provides reliable pitch and yaw stability and is the most common arrangement for light aircraft, affecting handling and recovery characteristics.
Intuition Check
Aft-tail design does not mean the airplane is tail-heavy or that the tail is unusual. It means the main horizontal control and balancing surface is behind the main wing rather than ahead of it.
Example Sentence 1
The Cessna 172 is a classic aft-tail design, with the elevator mounted at the rear of the fuselage.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots transitioning from canards must adjust to the different feel of an aft-tail design during slow-flight practice.