Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 1, 2025

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. It was built as a test bed for a proposed interceptor that never materialized. The XF-92A was then used to test the delta-wing concept.

Airfoil 64

Airfoil Aileron Rudder Stability 64

Pilot Institute

MARCH 13, 2025

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. In reality, the wing also uses Newtons third law to create lift.

Pilot 52

Pilot Lift Camber Airfoil 52

Pilot Institute

MARCH 28, 2025

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. Pilots can find out the prevailing winds aloft such as from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center and predict the vortices direction and rate of drift behind the preceding aircrafts flight path.

Turbulence 97

Turbulence Lift Drag Runway 97

Fear of Landing

MARCH 22, 2024

Supercritical Airfoil During the 1960s and 1970s, NASA scientist Richard Whitcomb led a team of researchers to develop and test a series of unique geometric shapes of airfoils or wing sections that could be applied to subsonic transports to improve lift and reduce drag.

Wind Shear 52

Wind Shear Airfoil Drag Airline 52

Pilot's Life Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

The wings are designed with an airfoil shape, curved on the top and flatter on the bottom, creating a pressure difference when air flows over them. Each rotor blade acts as an airfoil, and as it rotates, it moves air over its surface, generating lift. This pressure difference produces lift, allowing the aircraft to ascend.

Torque 52

Torque Lift Airplanes Stability 52

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Remember that wings, propeller blades, and tail surfaces are airfoil-shaped. Ice build-up on the airframe changes the airflow pattern around these airfoils. Weather conditions that lead to mixed ice include areas where warm air layers are above freezing and cold air layers are below freezing.

Pitot Tube 52

Pitot Tube Drag Lift Airfoil 52