Recent content by Capn'Tim

Elon Musk is only one of many who are championing a Mars Mission concept vs going to the Moon first. I hardly would categorize Elon Musk as some fly by night visionary with no substance... His success creating PayPal, Tesla Motors, his ventures into renewable energy alone are impressive. The...

It is fair to say that neither airflow deflection (Newtonian) or the velocity/pressure (Bernouli) by themselves account for lift independently of each other. Nor do the two when aggregated accurately reflect the lift of a given airfoil. This much is evident through wind tunnel testing as both...

I think you misunderstood (or I poorly worded) when I said "The primary lifting moment comes from the entrainment of air just behind the highest area of effective camber" I was not speaking to the entire lifting moment of the wing. I was intending to infer to the lift generated by that portion...

All points well taken. My point was intended to be more simplistic so as not to get buried in all the physics at work in the whole process. Indeed there is massive amounts of energy being released in the top fuel engine, however only a very small portion of that can be transferred to the wheels...

All points well taken. My point was intended to be more simplistic so as not to get buried in all the physics at work in the whole process. Indeed there is massive amounts of energy being released in the top fuel engine, however only a very small portion of that can be transferred to the wheels...

I agree. Mechanical advantage is a matter of perspective. Helicopters have their uses that provide benefits and resolve specific needs. However the most simple, low cost and economical methods of solving problems wins out. The main reason I said it was not applicable is one of efficient use of...

The techniques for controlling boundary layer separation vary some what depending on manufacturer and type of aircraft. Low speed flight at LD/Max is obviously of peak importance in a glider, so the parasitic drag they cause at those speeds is not very significant vs lift benefits. In a high...

You are referring to laminar flow. Laminar flow is important mainly to prevent airflow separation from the wing upper surface which creates turbulence, decreases velocity and results in loss of pressure differential, i.e, lift (wing stall). There are indeed multiple streamlines if measuring...

Your original question seems to imply that weight is not necessarily a factor. But the mass you are trying to displace (accelerate) is always affected by the mass vs accelerating force ratio. The thing that makes the rocket faster in your example has less to do with the type of powerplant and...

The helicopter example is not a good one and not applicable. The helicopter is making no use of mechanical advantage (lever). If I place a 1000 lb load at one end of a lever offset from a fulcrum one foot, I have a 1000 foot pound force to over come. a lever on the opposite side of the fulcrum...

Hello. Perhaps your question is simpler than I suppose it to be. What is the setting for your question? Is this a body being acted on by gravity or a body in free space with no significant gravity? The center of rotation is normally the center of mass as previously stated unless other wise...

Greetings :)

Forgive me for jumping in here. For me the answer as a aviation professional seems clear and obvious... However I can understand the need for clarification for those not having previous experience with the phenomena known as the Bernoulli's Principal. Without this effect no aircraft ever...