Grumman OF-1 Mohawk Photo Album

As evidenced by its mock-up, the G-164, designed by a team led by Michael Pelehach, was characterized by a single fin and rudder of large size on which the horizontal surfaces were mounted near the top. Wind-tunnel tests, however, revealed that these surfaces would provide insufficient control during STOL operations. Accordingly, the original tail surfaces were replaced by a conventionally located tailplane and triple fins and rudders.

Click to expand...

The mock-up had a distinctive 'T'-shaped tail, but Grumman engineers discovered that, in the event of one of the two engines failing, the tail would require a hydraulically boosted rudder. The aircraft was complicated enough as it was, so by experimenting with different tail designs, engineers came up with a distinctive triple tail. There was an unexpected bonus with the triple tail, it gave a smaller reflection on radar than the larger 'T'-tail.

Click to expand...