"Thomas J. Paladino Jr." wrote in message ...
"BOB URZ" wrote in message
...

Also, most newer fighter designs use twin tails canted out from
perpendicular. Is there a reason this is better than straight
dual perpendicular tails?

That has more to do with steath than anything else. 90-degree angles are a
major no-no in stealth design. So simply canting the tail surfaces inward or
outward can greatly reduce a radar signature. I believe that this was first
discovered on the SR-71; the engineers lowered its signature by something
like 30% or so just by giving it inward canted stabilizers.

I seem to recall that high-alpha directional stability also is
improved. That had a lot to do with the tailplane placement on the
Hornet...a little further forward and canted outward, so when it's
doing its slow, nose-high thing, the tailplanes still are effective.
I would imagine that that's an issue with the Raptor, too.