Find the wingspan and sweep angle of a V-tail

[gregh]

Hello guys this is my fisrt post on this forum ; I can't find anywhere how to calculate the aspect ratio and sweep angle of a V-tail. in my project I have a fixed wing uav with a normal tail that has Har = 3.1 and a Var = 1.7.

following this site: " http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articles/design/markdrela_vtailsizing.htm " , I converted the area of my tail in a v-tail that has an area of 0.052m^3 for each wing and a dihedral angle of 34°.

so I thought I'd go like this: I find the wingspan in my case: Hws = 0.495m Vws = 0.250m, divide them by two and then apply some trigonometry.

ex: wingspan of the V-tail of each surface = cos (34) * (Hws / 2) + sin (56) * (Vws / 2)

Do you think this is a correct approach? Can I use the same approach to determine the sweep angle?

thanks in advance for any reply.

 

[Lnewqban]

Welcome, gregh!

I would simply use the vertical and horizontal projections of your conventional tail to dimension your new V-tail.
I see no reason to divide the vertical wingspan by two.

 

[jrmichler]

It's good idea to check your calculations against proven designs. Some examples:
Beech Bonanza
Monerai
Waiex-B
SubSonex
Cirrus Vision SF50

Depending on the configuration of your design, you may want to look at some high performance jets:
Lockheed F-117
Fouga CM 170 Magister

BTW, back in the 1970's, I did my commercial cross country in a V-tail 1947 Beech Bonanza. California to Wisconsin and back. The trip got interesting after the generator burned out in Wyoming on the return trip, and I flew the rest of the trip with the electronics turned off.