Did late production 262 have a extended rudder tab. I have Eagle Cal decals that show this in their drawings. I have a picture of one aircraft, but can't tell if it has one. thanks. Jarhead

Hi George

I've had a squint at my references and none of the plans show an extended trim tab.

As regards photos; at first glance, several seem to show one but, on closer inspection this seems to be only the combination of an offset tab and the camera angle making it seem to "stick out" further.

However... one picture of a post-war Czech-built S-92, does seem to show an enlarged rudder tab.

The '262 was notorious for "snaking", so an enlarged tab might have been part of an effort to cure the problem.

Hope this helps

Rowan

Just had a quick look through my reference material and cant find any extended tabs.

With all due respect to Rowan if the aircraft was prone to snaking it would likely indicate an overservo condition in which case the tab would be reduced in size or or fitted with some form of turbulator/spoiler to reduce its effectiveness. The point being that the larger the tab the greater the servo action therefore the quicker/further the rudder would move in response to control inputs. Bit like driving a rear wheel steering vehicle - small input results in big change which results in over correction etc etc!

Of course I am asuming the tab is a servo tab. If it was the trim tab then it may have been increased if there was a problem with single engine trim.

Regards Dave

Cheers Dave

Your example of a car is great! :-) It helps explain why the '262's snaking habit was improved by actually removing the top 1/3 of the fin and rudder (something I couln't figure...).

Apparently the modification was unsafe, because it increased single-engine safety speed too much.

The final "solution" was a compromise - the trailing edge of the rudder was thickened and and strips of metal attached, which were bent outwards.

All the best

Rowan