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What Is Bernoulli’s Principle? A Simple Guide for Pilots

Pilot Institute

Airfoils use this principle, with faster airflow over the top creating lower pressure. If lift were entirely due to Bernoulli, a symmetric airfoil (one with equal curvature on top and bottom) wouldnt generate lift – yet it does when given the right angle of attack. Bernoullis principle isnt something pilots think about routinely.

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Picture Of The Week: April 4, 2025

AV Web

Photo By Daniel Hardt N33K at rest Fernridge Lake, Lane county Oregon Photo By Daniel Spitzer Pilots in a Yak18T and Beech G36 enjoy a late winter spin’ together, though their props rotate in opposite directions-check the airfoil of the blades. The post Picture Of The Week: April 4, 2025 appeared first on AVweb.

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Wingtip Vortices and Wake Turbulence

Pilot Institute

Pilots avoid vortices by maintaining safe separation and adjusting flight paths. When air flows over the aircraft wing, the shape of the airfoil creates low pressure above the wing and relatively higher pressure below the wing. Heavier, slower aircraft in clean configuration produce the most intense vortices.

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Today in Aviation History: First Flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Vintage Aviation News

Davis, who had developed a new wing, whose airfoil had a lower drag co-efficiency than other wing designs of the time, and which had already been used on the company’s Model 31/XP4Y Corregidor flying boat. Bill Wheatley, Consolidated’s Chief Test Pilot, co-pilot George Newman, and flight engineers Jack Kline and Bob Keith.

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Flight Test Files: The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket – Chasing Mach 2

Vintage Aviation News

These stories shine a light on the aircraft and test pilots that pushed the limits of aeronautical knowledge, many of them flying out of the legendary Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Research pilot John McKay flew it once in this form on September 17, 1956.

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Nemesis NXT

Plane and Pilot

The NXT was designed using computer-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD), NASA-derived airfoils, and was tested in the Lockheed wind tunnel to refine the aerodynamics. Rolls-Royce ACCEL/NXT NEXT Jon Sharp retired from air racing in 2011 as the winningest pilot in the sports history. But the Nemesis story did not end here.

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Flight Test Files: Convair XF-92A Dart

Vintage Aviation News

The delta wing’s large area (425 square feet), thin airfoil cross section, low weight, and structural strength made a great combination for a supersonic aircraft. The pilot also reported that the aircraft was sluggish and underpowered. It was built as a test bed for a proposed interceptor that never materialized.

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