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Show 4 A New Butterfly Comes to Life -. - -7 ( - ! : WICHITA KANSAS r Airwise residents during the past few months have been startled at the sight of a queer-looking airplane with a tail that resembles the half-opened wings of a butterfly. It flies without either horizontal or vertical tail surfaces and has a V tail with only two elements and so was nicknamed' t Butterfly" tail. The unique design originated at the Beech Aircraft Corporation and their purpose in building this experimental unit is to investigate the possibilities of simplified structure, elimination or reduction of compressibility com-pressibility effects at high speeds, simplified controls, and the effect on control, stability and handling ease which may be offered by such a radical departure from conventional construction. The airplane is a modified AT-10 Beechcraft plywood transitional ( trainer, which has been converted to a flying test unit for various advanced ideas. Test pilots state that the "Butterfly" tail renders excellent ex-cellent control and stability characteristics at all speeds- |