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Flight Test Files: The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket – Chasing Mach 2

Vintage Aviation News

Both aircraft display early examples of swept-wing airfoils. NASA photo The Skyrocket’s influence extended to control system designs as wellits data supported the adoption of all-moving horizontal stabilizers, which became standard on high-speed aircraft following the X-1 and D-558 series.

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Tailless Aircraft: How Airplanes Fly Without a Tail

Pilot Institute

A tailless aircraft is a fixed-wing airplane without a horizontal stabilizing surface. With this type of aircraft, the functions of longitudinal stability and control are incorporated into the main wing. Directional (yawing) stability from the vertical stabilizer. This type of design is a reflex airfoil.

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Flight Test Files: Grumman F-14 Tomcat

Vintage Aviation News

The F-14s unique roll control setup, which relies on differential horizontal stabilizers and spoilers rather than traditional ailerons, provided effective control at various speeds but also introduced side forces that could contribute to spin entry.

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Mach Number Explained: What It Is and Why Pilots Use It

Pilot Institute

Making the wing relatively flat on top with a blunter leading edge and more curvature on the bottom gives you a supercritical airfoil. The tailplane (horizontal stabilizer) at high Mach can also develop shocks or experience disturbed airflow from the wings. Even the wing cross-section can be designed to redirect shock waves.

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The Albree Pigeon-Fraser: The First American Fighter

Vintage Aviation News

The Pigeon-Fraser Model SG was powered by a single 100hp Gnme rotary engine, had a length of 24 feet with a wingspan of 37 feet, 11 inches, and its single-set of wings featured a flat-bottomed airfoil.

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McChord Air Museum Restoring World War II TG-4 Glider

Vintage Aviation News

The wings, horizontal stabilizer, and elevators will be removable in 30 minutes, as the museum plans on using the original trailer, which it received with the project, to transport it to schools and airshows as part of a STEM program. Lastly, some of the control cables were frayed and broken and will need replacement.

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The Hazards of Aircraft Icing: Explained

Pilot Institute

Remember that wings, propeller blades, and tail surfaces are airfoil-shaped. Ice build-up on the airframe changes the airflow pattern around these airfoils. It most commonly forms on the leading edges of your aircraft, including the wings, tail, and horizontal stabilizer, as well as on the propeller blades and pitot tubes.