#wingtip vortices

[blondebrainpowered]

An owl gliding through a cloud of helium-filled soap bubbles reveals wingtip and tail vortices.

Photo credit: Usherwood et al.

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Quietening Drones

A drone's noisiness is one of its major downfalls. Standard drones are obnoxiously loud and disruptive for both humans and animals, one reason that they're not allowed in many places. This flow visualization, courtesy of the Slow Mo Guys, helps show why.  (Image credit: The Slow Mo Guys) Read the full article

[nocternalrandomness]

"Vortices"

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Visualizing Wingtip Vortices

At the ends of an airplane's wings, the pressure difference between air on top of the wing and air below it creates a swirling vortex that extends behind the aircraft. In this video, researchers recreate this wingtip vortex in a wind tunnel, visualized with laser-illuminated smoke.  (Video and image credit: M. Couliou et al.) Read the full article

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

RC Ground Effect Plane

The ekranoplan was a massive, Soviet-era aircraft that relied on ground effect to stay aloft. In this video, RC pilots test out their own homemade version of the craft, including some neat flow visualization of the wingtip vortices. (Video and image credit: rctestflight; submitted by Simplicator) Read the full article

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Tokyo 2020: Sailing Physics

At first glance, sailboats don't look much like an airplane, but physics-wise, they're closely related. Both the sail and hull of a sailboat act like wings turned on their side. Just as with airplane wings, the driving force for a sail comes from a difference in pressure across the two sides of the sail.  (Image credits: top - Ludomił; bottom - D. Forster; research credit: B. Anderson; submitted by Lluís J.) Follow along all this week and next as we celebrate the Olympics with sports-themed fluid dynamics. Read the full article

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Birds generate extra lift with their tails, according to new measurements of gliding owls and raptors. Also, look at these gorgeous wingtip vortices! (Image and research credit: J. Usherwood et al.; video credit: Nature News; submitted by Jorn C. and Kam-Yung Soh)

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Contrails From 4 Engines

The wingtip vortices of aircraft provide a veritable cornucopia of gorgeous imagery. But four-engine aircraft add an extra twist to the imagery. (Image credits: aircraft and contrails - JPC Van Heijst, J. Willems, and E. Karakas; modeling and submission - J. Straccia) Read the full article