'The Power of the Vortex'
26/n:
Most of the Aero effects that ever happen are 'air-on-air'; they operate invisibly in the atmosphere around, and above, everyone.
In Aero research, the presence of an object can DISTRACT from the air-on-air character of activity it's caused...
🧪🪂🌪️🛩️
'The power of the Vortex'
7/n:
In 1936, Ludwig Prandtl traveled to lecture in the United States, but luggage stolen in Chicago included those swirly movies
- a mischance that spared America from the mind-bending influence of Ludwig's footage...!
Dah-Da-Daaah...!
(Cliffhanger chords...)
Air carries every ekranoplan
- but it carries an 'aeroplane' BETTER, at all altitudes.
There's a distinction among ekranoplans between 'surface skimmer' and 'almost-a-plane' types.
The distinction between 'aircraft' and almostaplane ekranoplans is less obvious...
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Persistent Aero Myths:
'The Aerofoil'
20/n:
A wide range of disparate 'components' are brought together under the umbrella term 'Aerofoil'.
(Mathematically, as well as in Physical terms, or 'mechanically'...)
So it should be no surprise that Aero mathematics are complex, confused and CONFUSING.
Yes, Swiss scientist Fritz Zwicky coined the term “dark matter” which is impressive, but he also coined the term “spherical bastard” to describe people who are bastards no matter which way you look at them, and I think that should be celebrated more.
Sheila Scott in 1971, crouched on wing of plane with door open. B&W photo
Sheila Scott UK aviator broke over 100 aviation records w' long-distance flight endeavours, incl 1971 34K mile "world & a half" flight as 1st person to fly over North Pole in small aircraft. Founder/1st governor of UK @theninetyninesinc.bsky.social . #OTD 27 Apr 1922 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_...
Sergeant Ray Holmes showed extraordinary courage ✈️🔥
A journalist turned RAF volunteer, he was one of the ‘citizen airmen’ defending Britain during WW2 🇬🇧☁️
He rammed an enemy bomber heading for Buckingham Palace after running out of ammo 💥— helping save it.
His actions embody true British grit 💪🇬🇧
'Twas ever thus...
💜🤍💙
This is cool: REGENT Craft gave us access to their B-roll footage from their recent testing of their Squire Seaglider drone, along with permission to recut it and add a soundtrack. Thanks, @boldspace.bsky.social, for helping to make this happen. | 🛩️ 📹 ⚔️ 📰 🥇 | 🔗 www.regentcraft.com/news/regent-...
'We Don't Know How We Won The War'
61/n
Where fluid is in motion, Laminar Flow is at least a plausible 'convenient fiction' or 'ideal'
- but in the Aerodynamics of Flight, it's preposterous TWADDLE that was DEBUNKED as soon as it was proposed...!
Or even earlier...
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'We Don't Know How We Won The War'
60/n
Like the Wright Brothers, David R Davis was aware of anomalies
(opportunities for progress...)
that had been overlooked by established experts whose focus was on less important factors
- or completely IMAGINARY ones, such as Laminar Flow.
'We Don't Know How We Won The War'
59/n
Buying into Edward's view of Presumptive Anomaly, Walter too IGNORES the possibility that 'thought leaders' might be WRONG
- neatly demonstrating the defect.
Any mistaken assumption means that available 'anomalies' go UNNOTICED.
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Dissimilar marine propellers are often 'paired'. But in Aerodynamics, 'mechanical balance' is elevated to the status of a TALISMAN that more-or-less PROHIBITS the pairing of dissimilar rotors.
Unfortunately, it's also a frustrating tale of 'design by committee', extended into a rambling epic-scale misadventure that just keeps on finding new ways to 'diminish its returns'.
And yet another demonstration of Aero pros & Profs 'having all the information but still missing the point'.
The post-war world wasn't an accident - it was designed. So what happens when
we forget the lesson? Bestselling historian James Holland has got fifteen minutes to tell you! @alexchurchill.bsky.social & @boneyabroad.com
Watch : tinyurl.com/45dxf4ut
LIsten: tinyurl.com/yc847v3r
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer, assigned to 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, flies behind a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, assigned to 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, during a Bomber Task Force mission over the Pacific Ocean, June 25, 2022. Bomber Task Force missions provide opportunities to train alongside our allies and partners to build interoperability and bolster our collective ability to support a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest)
So, after an inordinate amount of time pulling The B-1 Story series together, I'm left thinking about the aesthetics of death.
The Bone, the Spitfire, the Su 27 were all designed to kill people. But they are very pretty designs. Does that distract from their purpose?
Image: US Air Force/DOD
To celebrate #EarthDay, 🌍🌳 check out this spectacular view over the Pongara national park in Gabon. The image was taken last year by one of our specialised research aircraft, flying in tandem with the Biomass spacecraft from.
The obvious role that's played by the region of compressed air ahead of each prop blade (and also found in front of ANY wing) makes it hard to understand why another CONTRAPROP MYTH could have gained any level of plausibility.
It's often claimed that TIP VORTICES cause contraprop noise...!
Lufthansa will scrub 20,000 uneconomic short-haul flights from its European summer schedule to save on jet fuel, which has doubled in price since the start of the Iran war.
Who...?
At Hannover Messe 2026, Embraer showcases AI, robotics, and sustainable aviation innovations including Eve Air Mobility's eVTOL cabin and a Startup Marathon for aerospace AI solutions. #Embraer #HannoverMesse #Brazil
airpronews.com/2026/04/21/e...
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A Scientific Revolution will get ahead of the 'reforms' they have in mind, and inoculate Scientific disciplines against that pathogenic administration...
bsky.app/profile/pneu...
(50/n)
'When I come from', my claims REALLY ARE 'as obvious as Oxygen'.
And because I describe the 'real world', they're EQUALLY obvious' in your time
- a time when theatrical Stage Flats fall FAST ENOUGH to compress the fluid around them, and airliners travel in ATMOSPHERE, not 'flow field'...
· #AcademicSky · #SciComm ·
“Good communication is not about saying everything. It is about making the important thing easy to understand.”
You go, girl.
#AcademicSky #news #EconSky #universal #following
'We Don't Know How We Won The War'
58/n
In plain English, Edward & Walter's 'Presumptive Anomaly' just means: EXPERT PREJUDICE.
When 'leading lights' in a Profession or Academic discipline identify the 'development route' their subject needs to follow, then they CANNOT be mistaken.
It's a 'symptom' of much broader Social expectations.
Pilot Training has direct public-safety and personal survival repercussions
- but 'teaching to the test' is standard practice there, too...
Aerodynamics can help.
When institutions recognize that 200 years of informal 'history'
(Aero's 'corpus'...)
is WRONG, the benefits of RETRACING THOSE STEPS will become obvious.
An immediate 'knock-on' will be a need to re-evaluate the cultural context around each...
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