Tailless Aircraft

A tailless aircraft (often tail-less) has no other horizontal surface besides its main wing. All its aerodynamic control and stabilisation functions in pitch and roll are incorporated into the main wing. A 'tailless' type usually still has a vertical stabilising fin (vertical stabilizer) and control surface (rudder). However, NASA has recently adopted the 'tailless' description for the novel X-36 research aircraft which has a canard foreplane but no vertical fin.

The most successful tailless configuration has been the tailless delta, especially for combat aircraft, though the most familiar tailless delta is the Concorde airliner.