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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? They prove that with the right aerodynamic tricks, you dont need a tail to fly. A tailless aircraft may still have a fuselage and a vertical tail (fin and rudder). How does the tail do this? Ever wondered how it stays balanced?

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Wingtip Vortices and Wake Turbulence

Pilot Institute

This is called lift. Wingtip vortices are a byproduct of lift. Once the wing stops producing lift, the vortices dissipate instantly. Wing spoilers drastically reduce the lift generated by the wing. Its important because the lift is always produced perpendicular to the relative wind. Why is this important?

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Today in Aviation History: First Flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Vintage Aviation News

Davis, who had developed a new wing, whose airfoil had a lower drag co-efficiency than other wing designs of the time, and which had already been used on the company’s Model 31/XP4Y Corregidor flying boat. The Davis Wing allowed for higher speeds and added lift at relatively low angles of attack.

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What are the Key Parts of a Plane?

WayMan

These include: Fuselage Wings Cockpit Engine Propeller (in some aircraft) Tail Assembly (Empennage) Landing Gear Understanding how these parts interact is essential to grasping the basics of aerodynamicsand its one of the first steps in becoming a safe and informed pilot. Its also the anchor point to which the wings and tail are attached.

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Raptor-Inspired Drone Could Lead To Increased Maneuverability

AV Web

A pair of aerodynamic researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have created a raptor-inspired drone that uses its tail feathers to control bank, rather than wingtip feathers mimicked by ailerons on airplanes. The turns could be executed at low and high speeds as the raptors maneuvered.

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Flying a Plane for the First Time: A Beginner’s Guide

Pilot's Life Blog

Understanding the Basics of Flight Principles of Flight: Lift, Weight, Thrust, and Drag Flying a plane for the first time requires a basic understanding of the forces that make flight possible. Lift is generated by the wings, counteracting the force of weight, which pulls the plane down.

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Today in Aviation History: Loss of USS Macon

Vintage Aviation News

Though the German Zeppelins were inflated with hydrogen, which was a more readily available and lighter lifting gas, it was flammable when mixed with oxygen, which doomed many a Zeppelin to a fiery end. While flying high over West Texas, the sun heated and expanded the helium lifting gas, forcing the Macon to rise up.

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