Airfoil Airline Drag 
Pilot Institute
JUNE 4, 2025
This setup makes the wing less efficient overall, but it can reduce drag, weight, and cost compared to using a separate tail. High aspect ratio wings reduce drag and improve performance during climb or slow flight. On the flipside, a decrease in aspect ratio will result in higher drag. This type of design is a reflex airfoil.
Vintage Aviation News
APRIL 1, 2025
Particularly in battle aerodynamics, drag reduction, and structural durability, early aircraft teach engineers today important insights. Setting the benchmark for modern airliners, the Douglas DC-3 (1935) a classic in commercial aviation brought all-metal construction, retractable landing gear, and more efficient airfoil designs.
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Pilot Institute
JULY 11, 2025
Lift, drag, and handling correlate well with IAS in the lower atmosphere. For example, an airliner might indicate only 250 knots at 35,000 feet, but its true airspeed could be over 430 knots. Making the wing relatively flat on top with a blunter leading edge and more curvature on the bottom gives you a supercritical airfoil.
Vintage Aviation News
JUNE 18, 2025
Hughes also gained experience with the fledgling airlines when he assumed an alias and flew for American Airways (now American Airlines) until his true identity was discovered. This time, the aircraft would be fitted with a new wing, measuring 31 feet, 9 inches in span, and featuring a new airfoil.
Simple Flying
JUNE 14, 2025
Hinged panels at the wing’s trailing and leading edges transform a sleek airfoil into a low-speed lift sail. Increasing camber, flaps propel an airliner to lift off at lower speeds, trading a little drag for a lot of lift. One of the most influential cockpit levers on a jet’s take-off is the flap handle.
Fear of Landing
MARCH 22, 2024
This is an exploration of how NASA research has influenced modern airliners through research and technology. One of the most revolutionary was the “area rule,” a concept that helped aircraft designers avoid the disruption in airflow and resulting drag caused by the attachment of the wings to the fuselage.
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