Question

Typically, high speed aircrafts have thinner tail as compared to wing thickness.

(a) True

(b) False

This question was addressed to me by my school principal while I was bunking the class.

This is a very interesting question from Tail Geometry and Arrangement topic in chapter Airfoil and Geometry Selection of Aircraft Design

Answer 1

Right option is (a) True

To elaborate: Thickness ratio directly affects the critical mach number. At high speed it is one of the requirements to have higher values of critical mach number. To do so thin airfoil are used. Hence, to increase critical mach number tail is typically 10-12% thinner than the wing.