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Common explanation why wings fly is WRONG!
It’s one of the most tenacious myths in physics and it frustrates aerodynamicists the world over. Now, University of Cambridge’s Professor Holger Babinsky has created a 1-minute video that he hopes will finally lay to rest a commonly used yet misleading explanation of how wings lift. (www.physorg.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Someone on YouTube asked, "Now explain why an airplane can fly upside-down?". My answer would be(If I'm correct), "It's the exact same thing, only now the top side of the wing is now the bottom. If you were to perform this same smoke tunnel test with the wing upside down, it would look identical to the video above".
Not quite, the curved surface would be the lower portion and the air would flow faster on the lower portion of the wing, thus pulling the aircraft downward, which is why (other than structural reasons) 747's can't fly inverted, and an inverted A321 is generally a death sentence.
I will never fly quite the same again!
I think this is something that engineers can argue about. Judging from all the comments here, Pilot don't care as long as it flys.
to add to this: you have your aircraft specs, know your power settings and all about it. You do what you are supposed to and it flies. If you don't, it won't. point is that somebody long before you has came across this in the design phase and there is where it will have bearing, not in a plane that is built and specs given. Fly it by the specs and you have no dog in this fight.
Haha Wayne yes...while the plane is stalling the academic is working out why it stalled without doing anything to correct it. Hahaha...some teach others DO.
If you are an aircraft engineer this is a worthy subject I guess. If you are a pilot, your time is better spent just learning to fly the airplane. Principles won't help you when you are in the air and the engineering has failed.