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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. A tailless airplane is one where everything needed to fly, like lift, control, and stability, is built into the main wing.

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

Vintage Aviation News

They flew a total of 313 missions, collecting invaluable data on pitch stability, lift, drag, and buffeting in transonic and supersonic flight. The jet- and rocket-powered aircraft exceeded expectations, performing better than predicted in high-speed wind tunnel testsparticularly in drag performance above Mach 0.85. In 1953, U.S.

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Learning Aeronautical Engineering From Historic Aircraft Designs

Vintage Aviation News

From the first days of flying to the evolution of supersonic jets, historic aircraft offer a road map for comprehending the ideas guiding aeronautical engineering. As shown by the Messerschmitt Me 262, the first operational jet fighter in the world, jet propulsion was the most innovative breakthrough of this age.

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

Pilot Institute

Why do jet pilots talk about speed in terms of Mach number? Jet aircraft often fly at speeds close to the speed of sound. When you reach around 36,000 feet (11,000 m) near the tropopause, the temperature stabilizes at around -56.5 °C. Early jet pilots found this out while exploring high-speed jet flight.

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Flight Test Files: Grumman F-14 Tomcat

Vintage Aviation News

One of the standout aircraft in Drydens research history is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a legendary Navy fighter jet that played a key role in two major research programs at the center. These glove modifications served to smooth the wing surface and alter the airfoil to achieve specific pressure distributions.

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The Role of Newton’s Third Law in Aviation

Pilot Institute

They are designed with a special shape called an airfoil, which encourages passing air to turn and deflect downward. This is why the typical airfoil shape has a curved top and a flat bottom, especially in slower-speed general aviation aircraft. The principle is the same whether the aircraft gets thrust from propellers or jet engines.

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Today in Aviation History: First Flight of the Bell P-63 Kingcobra

Vintage Aviation News

It featured a laminar flow airfoil, the Allison V-1710 was fitted with a second supercharger, a four-bladed propeller was installed, and the nose cowlings to access the airplane’s 37mm gun and two Browing M2.50 However, the US Army Air Force was still interested in an improved version of the P-39, and so a new design was drafted.