A simple aircraft question from a newbie

[+Rogue Vulcan]

Greetings!

 

I joined these forums recently for the Star Trek Legacy section, but I've always had an interest in aviation, and I play a few flight sim, and combat flight sim games.

 

Anyway, I have a question for all you aviation buffs:

 

We (My wife and I) live just a couple miles from an airport, and one of the planes that is kept there is a small single engine propeller-driven plane. It's maybe a 4-5 person plane, maybe just a two-seater, I can't really tell, anyway, it's small. It's got the wings mounted under the fusalage, isntead of above. But the odd thing is the tail section. Instead of a "normal" horizontal-vertical setup, it's just got a pair of slanted "fins", for lack of a better word. That is, instead of the elevators and rudders, it appears to just have two rudders, slanted at maybe 15-20 degrees to each side.

 

So, viewed from the aft, it looks like a V, instead of _|_

 

I'm just curious at to what kind of plane that is, and what the advantages are of that configuration. Also, how does the plane climb? Just turn the "rudders" in toward each other, creating a "cup" at the tail?

 

If any of that makes sense (Please excuse my lack of technical knowledge.) can anyone answer my questions?

[+suhsjake]

Most likely a Beechcraft Bonanza.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Bonanza

Edited May 20, 2007 by suhsjake

[+Rogue Vulcan]

Yup, I think that's it. Thanks! I've been wondering about that for weeks.