FREE-ELEVATOR FACTOR
When the elevator is part of the wing, as on a tailless aircraft, and the elevator is free, the lift-curve slope is given by (6.6,46), i. e.
The factor in parentheses is the free elevator factor F, and normally has a value less than unity. Likewise, when the elevator is part of the tail, the floating angle can be related to a„ viz.
and the tail lift coefficient is
(6.6,8)
The effective lift-curve slope is
place of at and a’ in place of a, then all the equations given in Sec. 6.3 hold for tailed aircraft with a free elevator.