Designer's Notebook

Fixed gear or retractable gear? Barnaby Wainfan examines the physics behind this longstanding design question.

Barnaby Wainfan explores the optimum size of a wing and the best ways to balance performance and efficiency.

Tail stalls have been in the news lately-Barnaby Wainfan dissects this phenomenon, and clarifies what to do and what not to do.

Accelerate, pull and fly-thats not all there is to the takeoff. Barnaby Wainfan takes a second-by-second look at the aerodynamics of the takeoff: when it works, and when it doesn't.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in the efficiency of all vehicles, including airplanes. Designers are seeking to make airplanes that perform better and burn less fuel. Barnaby Wainfan takes a close look at the aerodynamics and mathematics behind this deceptively complex process.

Aerodynamics Engineer Barnaby Wainfan dissects one of the most common and possibly least understood flight maneuvers: turns.

An airplane's horizontal tail is critical to stabilizing the airplane in pitch, trimming out pitching moments caused by the wing and providing control power for maneuverability.

Multiple engines complicate design, because not only must the airplane be able to maintain flight on one engine, but also the pilot must be able to control it. Lateral/directional stability issues are key;

In order to bank the airplane and execute a turn properly, adverse yaw must be countered or eliminate altogether. The discussion of how to do this includes rudder control, aileron-rudder interconnects, directional stability, differential ailerons, aileron drag and the use of spoilers;

The aerodynamics of an airplane sometimes don't cooperate with the pilots desire to roll, and instead produce both yaw and roll. Contributing factors are aileron parasite drag, induced drag between the wings and changes in the roll rate itself;