Over the years, there have been many odd airplane designs, but one you probably haven’t seen much is the forward-swept wing. While most early aircraft featured straight wings, rear-swept wings are Keep reading
Tag: aerodynamics
Dandelion Flight, Continued
Not long ago, we learned for the first time that dandelion seeds fly thanks to a stable separated vortex ring that sits behind their bristly pappus. Building on that work, Keep reading
Titan’s Dragonfly
Last week, NASA announced its next New Frontiers mission: a nuclear-powered drone named Dragonfly heading to Titan. This astrobiology mission is set to search our solar system’s second largest moon for Keep reading
Plant Week: Dandelions in Flight
To kick off Plant Week here on FYFD, we’re taking a closer look at that ubiquitous flower: the dandelion. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these little guys manage to get just about Keep reading
Bats in Ground Effect
As pilots can tell you, flying near the ground (or an open expanse of water) gives one an aerodynamic boost. Essentially, the surface acts like a mirror, reflecting and dissipating Keep reading
Inside a Wind Tunnel
When I was in graduate school, I worked in a facility known as the High-Speed Wind Tunnel Lab. We were located next door to the Low-Speed Wind Tunnel, and every Keep reading
Vortices and Ground Effect
Though typically unseen, the vortices that swirl from the tips of aircraft wings are powerful. Here you see a Hawker Sea Fury equipped with a smoke system used to visualize Keep reading
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge
One of the most dramatic and famous engineering failures of the twentieth century is also one of the most complicated: the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This early suspension Keep reading
Flying on Flexible Wings
Bats are incredible and rather unique among today’s fliers. Like birds, they flap to produce their lift and thrust, but where birds have relatively stiff wings, a bat’s wings are Keep reading
The Actual Shape of Raindrops
If you imagine the shape of a raindrop, you probably think of a tear drop shape, but the reality of rain is much more complicated. It’s Okay to Be Smart Keep reading