empennage
noun
em·pen·nage ˌäm-pə-ˈnäzh 
ˌem-
: the tail assembly of an aircraft
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web This meant that guides had to be added to the empennage to prevent damage to the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. 
Janet Bednarek, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 July 2022 The main wreckage was about 127 feet from the impact crater along a 347⁰ true bearing (335⁰ magnetic) and consisted of the empennage/tailboom, both engines, avionics boxes, and portions of the cockpit instrument panel. New York Times, 7 Feb. 2020 The empennage, elevator, and rudder remained intact. BostonGlobe.com, 16 Oct. 2019 The fuselage has been slightly widened behind the wing to keep airflow attached to the empennage (that is, the collective tail assembly). Eric Tegler, Ars Technica, 30 Aug. 2018 What America got with the A-10 was a single-seat, low-wing, straight-wing aircraft with two non-afterburning turbofan engines mounted high—behind the wing and in front of an empennage with twin vertical stabilizers. Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, 19 Nov. 2016
Janet Bednarek, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 July 2022 The main wreckage was about 127 feet from the impact crater along a 347⁰ true bearing (335⁰ magnetic) and consisted of the empennage/tailboom, both engines, avionics boxes, and portions of the cockpit instrument panel. New York Times, 7 Feb. 2020 The empennage, elevator, and rudder remained intact. BostonGlobe.com, 16 Oct. 2019 The fuselage has been slightly widened behind the wing to keep airflow attached to the empennage (that is, the collective tail assembly). Eric Tegler, Ars Technica, 30 Aug. 2018 What America got with the A-10 was a single-seat, low-wing, straight-wing aircraft with two non-afterburning turbofan engines mounted high—behind the wing and in front of an empennage with twin vertical stabilizers. Eric Tegler, Popular Mechanics, 19 Nov. 2016 Word History
Etymology
French, feathers of an arrow, empennage, from empenner to feather an arrow, from em- en- entry 1 + penne feather, from Middle French — more at pen
First Known Use
1908, in the meaning defined above