The engineers at Boeing are going to be really embarrassed once someone tells them they don't actually need to put wings on their aircraft...
not to mention authors of rfc-1925 as well :o)
Re:Airfoil
by travisjungroth on Tuesday February 27, 2024 @07:05PM
(#39532041)
A 747 won’t fall like a rock. It will glide.
You can't say that without mentioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_009
Where the pilot said what is probably the most British thing ever said in history:
> Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem.
> All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going
> again. I trust you are not in too much distress.
Just in case folks don't click on the link, it was a safe landing and everyone survived. It turns out modern planes can glide quite well.
This is a very important point.
The key difference is that a rock (like any ballistic projectile) accelerates until terminal velocity. In contrast, a 747 (like any airplane) descends with a constant vertical velocity when they lose power.
Bernoulli and Coanda are important but without thrust/velocity there is no lift