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

Vintage Aviation News

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. Its test flights provided data that shaped the designs of later swept-wing military aircraft, including the Century Series of jet fighters.

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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. Making the wing relatively flat on top with a blunter leading edge and more curvature on the bottom gives you a supercritical airfoil. Early jet pilots found this out while exploring high-speed jet flight.

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Tailless Aircraft: How Airplanes Fly Without a Tail

Pilot Institute

Use of Reflex Airfoils Ever notice how many tailless aircraft have wings that curve at the trailing edge? This type of design is a reflex airfoil. The reflexed shape of the airfoil usually causes a positive (nose-up) pitching moment coefficient at its aerodynamic center. Flying wings dont have tails or elevators.

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Wingtip Vortices and Wake Turbulence

Pilot Institute

The exhaust coming out of aircraft engines looks pretty dangerous, generating huge amounts of thrust and pushing back tons of hot air. When air flows over the aircraft wing, the shape of the airfoil creates low pressure above the wing and relatively higher pressure below the wing. ATRs, Dash 8s, large business jets.

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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. The aircraft also participated in studies involving low-altitude flight with asymmetric engine thrust.

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The Role of Newton’s Third Law in Aviation

Pilot Institute

This principle is fundamental in generating lift, thrust, and maneuverability, allowing aircraft to fly. Thrust (how it moves forward). They are designed with a special shape called an airfoil, which encourages passing air to turn and deflect downward. That force is called thrust. Wings do just that.

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What Is a Variable-Sweep Wing? How Swing Wings Work

Pilot Institute

Aircraft that transform their wing shape mid-flight might sound like something out of a futuristic sci-fi, but they’re actually as old as the jet age itself. Modern jets favor simpler, stealthier fixed-wing designs. This aircraft was an experimental jet fighter with wings that could be adjusted to different sweep angles on the ground.