Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A cruciform wing is a set of four individual wings arranged in the shape of a cross. The cross may take either of two forms: Wings equally spaced around the cross-section of the fuselage, lying in two planes at right angles, as on a typical missile.
Modern aircraft wings may have different airfoil sections along the wing span, each one optimized for the conditions in each section of the wing. Movable high-lift devices, flaps and sometimes slats, are fitted to airfoils on almost every aircraft. A trailing edge flap acts similarly to an aileron; however, it, as opposed to an aileron, can be ...
Wings with a symmetrical cross-section can also generate lift by using a positive angle of attack to deflect air downward. Symmetrical airfoils have higher stalling speeds than cambered airfoils of the same wing area [8] but are used in aerobatic aircraft as they provide the same flight characteristics whether the aircraft is upright or ...
The NACA four-digit wing sections define the profile by: [2] First digit describing maximum camber as percentage of the chord. Second digit describing the distance of maximum camber from the airfoil leading edge in tenths of the chord. Last two digits describing maximum thickness of the airfoil as percent of the chord. [3]
[note 1] In a flying boat hull or floatplane float, the longitudinal line of sharp change in cross-section where the bottom plane meets the sidewall is an example of a chine. On some supersonic aircraft a chine extends sideways for some distance, with a very sharp edge blending in with the main wing leading edge root.
When analyzing a three-dimensional finite wing, a traditional approach slices the wing into cross-sections and analyzes each cross-section independently as a wing in a two-dimensional world. Each of these slices is called an airfoil , and it is easier to understand an airfoil than a complete three-dimensional wing.
Years of research and experience with the unusual conditions of supersonic flow have led to some interesting conclusions about airfoil design. Considering a rectangular wing, the pressure at a point P with coordinates (x,y) on the wing is defined only by the pressure disturbances originated at points within the upstream Mach cone emanating from point P. [3] As result, the wing tips modify the ...
An explanation of how the swept wing works was offered by Robert T. Jones: "Assume a wing is a cylinder of uniform airfoil cross-section, chord and thickness and is placed in an airstream at an angle of yaw – i.e., it is swept back. Now, even if the local speed of the air on the upper surface of the wing becomes supersonic, a shock wave ...