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From heavy bombers to fighter aircrafts during the early 20th century, the radial engine was one of the most popular type of engine used.

The big advantage of radials was their large frontal area, which meant they could be air cooled, meaning less maintenance, failures, and of course a lower cost of initial purchase and maintenance.

But as more complex liquid based cooling systems developed during the Word War II and the fact that its large frontal area also increased drag decreasing its efficiency, , the radial engine lost its zenith.

Nevertheless. its graceful mechanism of operation will never go out of style and will continue to captivate the minds of many who will retain its heritage.

Other cool stuff

The sound of a Radial Engine

Why are Inline Engines more commonly used than Radial Engines?

A radial engine mounted on a Volkswagen

Have a good one!

PC: Duk

fyphysica

The Magnus Effect

The tendency for an object to follow a curved path instead of a straight one is known as the magnus effect.

This is due to the generation of a side wards force on a spinning spherical or cylindrical object known as the Magnus force.

The mechanism.

The mechanism is rather a simple affair - As the rotating object moves through the air, it pushes the air on side of the ball whilst disturbing and slowing the flow on the other side down.

What this does is, it creates a pressure differential. Faster moving air exerts lesser pressure and slower moving turbulent air exerts a higher pressure. And as a result, the ball experiences a force ( known as the magnus force ).

This force vector points from the higher pressure region to the lower pressure one.

The Aerofoil similarity

If you think about it, it is the same principle as a lift in an aircraft. ( the difference off course lies in the fact that for the Magnus effect to take place, the object must spin )

More the pressure differential, more the lift.

Now an obvious question might strike your mind - What if the wings rotated? I present to you the Flettner Rotor Aircraft which whose wings rotate in order to generate lift.

But sadly, the drag that these things produced were also considerably high rendering them impractical! Ahh..

( If you are interested, check out the No sail boat that Flettner built that actually works and uses the magnus effect )

Magnus effect in sports

Magnus effect underlies various sporting action. For instance that spectacular Ronaldo’s free-kick was a consequence of the magnus effect.

Cricket - Spin Bowling.

Notice the change in direction of the ball during flight.

Tennis - The dreaded Topspin

The ball experiences a downward push as a result of magnus effect.

Baseball - A pitcher’s delight

This pitcher just knows how to rule the game.

You get the idea, right ? Basically, any sport that involves a rotating body, you are most likely to find the magnus effect coming into play.

Have fun exploring this effect in your own unique way and as always have a good one! Cheers!

Useful Links:

The magnus effect and the world cup football

How to make a cup that flies.

Flettner‘s No sail Rotor Ship

PC: Royal Institution, Cosmol

*** The phenomenon simplified for the sake of explanation. For those who are seeking out answers from a fluid mechanics and mathematical perspective ( boundary layers, flow stagnation,etc ) check out any standard Fluid mechanics Text.

fyphysica

Suck, Squeeze, Bang and Blow - That’s how a jet engine works!

It sucks in air from the surrounding,

squeezes it up with the compressor,

and when fuel is added and ignited, the bang occurs.

The air is blown out the back and this produces Thrust.

And no, I am not oversimplifying things. It is really that Simple. ;)

Happy Halloween!

PC: nasa, bbc, imgur,worldofwarplanes.

EDIT: This principle can also be used to understand how your car engine works as well.

fyphysica

A vortex portal to another universe.

This is known as wingtip vortex. It is a ramification of the design of the wing and how it works.

How does an aircraft fly? Think of it like this, due to the design of the wing, larger number of air molecules are hitting the bottom portion of the aircraft than the top.

As a result, a upward force acts on the wing, hence the wing lifts!

This works fine till we get to the wing tips.

In the wingtip, the air from a higher pressure wants to move to the region of lower pressure. And as a result, this forms vortices ( fancy name for the swirling motion of air ) known as Wingtip Vortex. ( because its formed in the wing tips!!! )

Why do birds fly in a V formation?

Migratory birds take advantage of each other’s wingtip vortices by flying in a V formation so that all but the leader are flying in the upwash from the wing of the bird ahead. ( Look at the image, each one is exactly out of phase in its wing motion ).

This upwash makes it easier for the bird to support its own weight, reducing fatigue on migration flight.

And somehow birds know about this and recalibrate themselves in flight?

Wow! There is so much more to a bird’s flight that that meets the eye. I will take up the same sometime down the line. But, If you are really curious to find out why, read this nature article.

Have a Good Day!

PC: John Benson, boldmethod,mathcareer, natgeo, NASA.

EDIT - Also do check out the Smoke Angels.

fyphysica

Aviation 101 : Flight Dynamics

To most people, the sky is the limit.

To those who love aviation, the sky is home.

All vehicles are free to operate in three dimensions i.e the longitudinal, vertical and horizontal axes.

In an aircraft, this movement are known by Pitch, Yaw and Roll.

Pitch

Motion about the lateral axis is called pitch and it’s a measure of how far an airplane’s nose is tilted up or down.

This is controlled by the elevator.

Yaw

Motion about the perpendicular axes is called yaw and for aircraft it determines which way the nose is pointed (Note: Aircraft do not necessarily fly in the same direction as the nose is pointed if there are significant winds.)

This is controlled by the movement of the rudder

Roll

Motion about the longitudinal axis is termed roll and in aircraft determines how much the wings are banked.

This is controlled by the movement of the aileron.

The position of the Aileron, Elevator and the Rudder on an airplane

Where do you use it ?

There are a wide variety of times where all the three have to be employed. One such that crosses my mind is the Crosswind Landing

Crosswind landing is a landing maneuver in which a significant component of the prevailing wind is perpendicular to the runway center line.

The above maneuver is known as Crabbing

Source

Some more examples

One need not restrict the usage of these terms merely to aircrafts, but can extend it other objects of interest as well.

Cars also experience pitch, roll, and yaw, but the amounts are relatively small and are usually the result of the suspension reacting to turns, accelerations, and road conditions.