Originally Posted by
sdwings
If an aircraft with a tailplane applying zero TDF is displaced by a gust into, say, a pitch up attitude, wouldn't the AOA increase on the tailplane causing the tail to rise? Or is the airflow the tail experiences purely from the wings downwash?
The vertical component of any gusts will affect the angle of attack of both the wings and the tailplane, and also the positions of their respective centres of pressure, which in turn will generate variable pitching moments experienced by the aircraft - a complex situation. Overall the behaviour of the aircraft will be as described above.
The main reason single-engined propeller-driven aircraft tend to pitch up when thrust is increased is the more powerful propwash generating greater TDF as it flows past the tailplane.