Thanks John
Two of the Ultimate Fighters display team, a Hispano Buchon (Spanish-built and Merlin-engined Me109) on the left and the portly form of the Republic P47D Thunderbolt - the mighty "Jug" - on the right.
John
In addition Ken - the USAF museum at Duxford has a range of flying WW2 fighters etc and they are frequently flown both there and elsewhere in the UK during the Summer months:t:
Laurie -
Anyone get aircraft gifts for Christmas? I got a Concorde calendar and a Concorde picture signed by Mike Bannister Chef Concorde Pilot which I'll get framed. As well as bird stuff I'm a fan of Concorde and collect Concorde stuff.
I recently photographed a black winged kite in India. Looking at the photo closer i noticed the 2 feathers projecting ahead of the wing leading edges. These look so similar to the dogtooth extensions that a super hornet and other fighter aircraft have. My hypothesis is that these feathers serve the same purpose in the kite. Improve stall and high angle of attack performance allowing it to hover exceptionally well.
Does this sound reasonable?
They are closer in function to the leading edge flaps ("slots") that serve roughly the same purpose in sub-sonic aircraft. I think they were originally invented by the Handley Page aircraft company: originally as an addition to the trailing edge flaps for low speed lift generation, but the P51 Mustang at least employed slots in combat with considerable effect on sustained manoeuvrability.
Hi John,
I believe there was a broader patent on the slotted wing issued to Gustav Lachmann before Handley-Page independently came up with a working system, but as Lachmann subsequently joined Handley-Page and became their long-time chief designer, it all remained "in the family" ;-)
As far as I know, the P-51 Mustang didn't actually employ fixed slots or moving slats, though North American Aviation, the manufacturer of the P-51, made them a feature of their very successful early jet fighter, the F-86 Sabre.
However, the German Me 109 used Handley-Page slats. Sir Frederick Handley-Page had met Willy Messerschmitt before the war, and granted him permission to use the slats in exchange for some Messerschmitt-developed technology Handley-Page was interested in.
North American Aviation adopted the Handley-Page slats after analysis of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, which was equipped with these too - they turned out to be even more useful with swept wings than they had been on the straight wings they were originally designed for.
Regards,
Henning
I knew the 109 had slats, wasn't sure if only used for landing.
The prototype Mosquito, W4050, has slats fitted, but trials established that the design was so good they were unnecessary, so they were deleted from production aircraft. Ah, de Havilland..... :t:
I recently photographed a black winged kite in India. Looking at the photo closer i noticed the 2 feathers projecting ahead of the wing leading edges. These look so similar to the dogtooth extensions that a super hornet and other fighter aircraft have. My hypothesis is that these feathers serve the same purpose in the kite. Improve stall and high angle of attack performance allowing it to hover exceptionally well.
Does this sound reasonable?
Perhaps I've misunderstood but I figured that the arrowed flight feathers were the bird's " bastard wing" and these might act like the canards or winglets on say a Typhoon fast jet, enabling better manouverability/control etc?
Hi,
The canards improve control because they create lift significantly forward of the main wing's lift. At high angles of attack, they also create beneficial vortices that affect the main wing, a bit like the strakes of the F-18 that have been mentioned earlier.
The birds' alula is fairly close to the main wing, and fairly small in comparison to the main wing, so that the bird can't significantly increase the angle of attack by relying on vortex lift, because not all of the wing is covered. I believe a low aspect ratio is also a prerequisite for the practical use of vortex lift, and bird wings tend to have a high aspect ratio for efficiency reasons.
So I'd say the alula really smoothes the airflow over the middle of the wing a bit for more efficient (flapping) flight.
I was unable to find an explanation for the function of the alula in Konrad Lorenz "Vogelflug" (because it lacks an index), but I'm pretty sure there's something in Rüppel's book on the topic of bird flight. Unfortunately, I haven't unpacked that one yet after my recent move!
Regards,
Henning