The ekranoplan was a massive, Soviet-era aircraft that relied on ground effect to stay aloft. In this video, RC pilots test out their own homemade version of the craft, including Keep reading
Tag: downwash
Wingtip Vortices
Newton’s third law says that forces come in equal and opposite pairs. This means that when air exerts lift on an airplane, the airplane also exerts a downward force on Keep reading
Wake Vortices at Night
The ends of an airplane’s wings generate vortices that stretch back in the wake of the plane. Most of the time these vortices are invisible, even if their effects on Keep reading
Flow Around a Delta Wing
Smoke visualization in a wind tunnel shows the vortices wrapping around and trailing behind a delta wing. As with more commonly seen rectangular or swept wings, the vortices that form Keep reading
Starting Vortices
Whenever a wing stops or starts in a fluid, it produces a vortex. This 2D numerical simulation shows an airfoil repeatedly starting and stopping, shedding a vortex each time. Note Keep reading
The Ekranoplan
The ekranoplan, the monster of the Caspian Sea, was a Soviet-era aircraft nearly 74 meters in length and weighing 380,000 kgs fully loaded. (In contrast, the C-17 is 53 m Keep reading
Flying Snake Video
A follow-up on the flying snakes. This video shows researchers filming the actual snakes gliding and performing maneuvers. See also the Scientific American article on their work. #
Flying Snakes Draft off Themselves
Some snakes in Southeast and South Asia are known to glide some 100 m between trees. Researchers filmed snakes, constructed computational models of their flights, and tested plastic models in Keep reading