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Tailless Aircraft: How Airplanes Fly Without a Tail

Pilot Institute

Have you ever seen an airplane with no tail and no vertical fin, but with just a sleek wing? A tailless aircraft is a fixed-wing airplane without a horizontal stabilizing surface. A tailless airplane is one where everything needed to fly, like lift, control, and stability, is built into the main wing. Why does this matter?

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Video tip: The aerodynamics of induced and parasite drag

Flight Training Central

During your flight training, you’ll learn all about the 4 forces acting on the airplane in flight, including lift, thrust, weight and drag. This week’s tip takes a closer look at the aerodynamic forces that cause the rearward force of drag, including a breakdown of parasite vs. induced drag.

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As Uncertainty Reigns Over Washington, American Cuts Back

Cranky Flier

So, it is doing the next best thing and downgauging to smaller airplanes. If things continue to drag on or even get worse, then I’d imagine American will have to take an even harder look at what it is planning to fly. Looking at a sample week using Cirium data, that cuts about 2.5

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Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 1969 Mooney M20E Chaparral

Plane and Pilot

For a certain segment of pilots looking to travel a certain distance, a fast, personal airplane can serve as a veritable time machine. And the rest of the airplane follows suit. While individual upgrades like these often return only a few knots each, they can collectively boost a stock airplanes cruise speed noticeably.

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Video tip: Flying airplanes with retractable landing gear

Flight Training Central

Many high-performance airplanes feature retractable landing gear that allows them to fly at higher speeds thanks to the reduced drag (and they look cool too). The video clip below is from Sporty’s 2025 Learn to Fly Course

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5 Most Common Aircraft Flap Types (Explained by a CFI)

Northstar VFR

Flaps are movable surfaces on the trailing edge of an airplanes wings that can be extended downward to change the shape of the wing during flight. When deployed, they increase the wings lift and drag, allowing the airplane to fly safely at slower speeds. Lets get into it by first talking about what flaps are. What Are Flaps?

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Classic Theory Meets Digital Computer; Status Quo Emerges Unscathed

Flying Magazine

Subscribe Now Carsons argument began with the familiar observation that because airplanes need to climb, their engines are more powerful than they would be if they were sized solely for most efficient cruising. Naval Academy, approached the problem by setting lift-drag ratio, L/D, as his metric of efficiency.