Lookavi
9th Dec 2000, 05:02
Can anybody explain what the trailing edge wedge on a new 747ER is?
Oz_Pilot
11th Dec 2000, 21:16
From the dusty corners of my memory - has something to do with the Kutta Condition, which is to say that the airflow over the upper and lower surfaces should (ideally) meet with the same horizontal velocity and negligible vertical velocity.
Apparently, there are two ways to do this: the tapered trailing edges we have today, and these new wedges which (through the modern marvel that is computational fluid dynamics) gives the same result with somehow less drag etc etc.
If someone else can give some more details on HOW this all works I'd love to know myself!
Incidentally, this was all mentioned in '98 to me but in the context of "It won't happen for decades..." the aviation industry being as conservative as it is.