Welcome back to our Word of the Week!
Every week, we look together at a word that is either interesting, funny or mysterious and that appeals to all of us in the aviation community.
What do fish and aircraft have in common (apart from the fact that they both have the same form in the singular and plural): their fin! Not only dophins have fine thin fins.
fin (n.)
UK /fɪn/ US /fɪn/
A thin vertical part sticking out of the body of especially a fish or an aircraft that helps balance and movement.
When we think about it, there is a certain bit of logical “design” in it. Both fish and aircraft travel through fluids, so they need something to keep balance, or to stabilize them whilst they move.
On an aircraft, you will see that there are many different types of fins, but what is important to know is that they should not be confused with the rudder, which is the mobile part of the tail assembly which allows the pilot to steer the aircraft around its vertical axis, by yawing. Remember our blog article about yaw?
