Editing Stabilator (section)

{{Short description|Fully movable aircraft stabilizer}}
[[File:US Navy 051202-N-5832A-002 Air Department personnel run across the flight deck after the launch of an F-14D Tomcat.jpg|thumb|right|[[Grumman F-14 Tomcat]] jet fighter during a takeoff, with stabilators deflected upwards]]

A '''stabilator''' is a fully movable aircraft horizontal [[stabilizer (aircraft)|stabilizer]]. It serves the usual functions of longitudinal stability, control and stick force requirements<ref>Roskam, ''Airplane Design'', part III, Empennage layout, Longitudinal considerations</ref>  otherwise performed by the separate parts of a conventional [[horizontal stabilizer]] (which is fixed) and [[elevator (aeronautics)|elevator]] (which is adjustable). Apart from reduced drag, particularly at high Mach numbers,<ref name="Abzug">{{cite book |last1=Abzug |first1=Malcolm J. |last2=Larrabee |first2=E. Eugene |title=Airplane Stability and Control: A History of the Technologies that Made Aviation Possible |date=23 September 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-32019-2 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaYZBAAAQBAJ |access-date=17 October 2022 |language=en |quote=All-movable tail surfaces became interesting... when high Mach number theory and transonic wind-tunnel tests disclosed poor performance of ordinary flap-type controls.}}</ref> it is a useful device for changing the aircraft balance within wide limits, and for reducing stick forces.<ref>Daroll Stinton, ''The design of the aeroplane'', Control surfaces, p. 447 and 449 : "...for variation of tab size, gear ratio and stabilator pivot position, the stick-free neutral point can be varied almost at will.</ref>

Stabilator is a [[portmanteau]] of ''stabilizer'' and ''elevator''. It is also known as an all-moving [[tailplane]] ([[British English]]), all-movable tail(plane), all-moving stabilizer, all-flying tail ([[American English]]), all-flying horizontal tail, full-flying stabilizer, and slab tailplane.<ref name="Abzug"/>