Barnaby Wainfan
Barnaby is a Technical Fellow for Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Design organization. A private pilot with single-engine and glider ratings, Barnaby has been involved in the design of unconventional airplanes including canards, joined wings, flying wings and some too strange to fall into any known category.
Wind Tunnel
Barnaby Wainfan offers an explanation of how tail surfaces can be subject to flutter and how to avoid the potentially disastrous result.
Wind Tunnel
Aerodynamic flutter has been a recent concern in the homebuilt world. What exactly is flutter? What causes it? Barnaby Wainfan clarifies an often misunderstood and potentially dangerous phenomenon.
Wind Tunnel
Airplanes are surprisingly flexible, and changes in their shape can affect aerodynamic characteristics. Barnaby Wainfan explains how the two are coupled.
Combating Carb Ice
Barnaby Wainfan examines a sneaky and sometimes little understood cause of in-flight scares and engine failures: carb ice.
Wind Tunnel
Barnaby Wainfan brings aerodynamics to life with an illustrated field guide to the various devices seen at AirVenture.
The Case for Strakes
These small additions to your aircraft can make a significant improvement in its pitch response and authority at high angles of attack. Barnaby Wainfan gives you the strake story.
Wind Tunnel
Got separation anxiety? Vortex generators can keep the airflow attached where it belongs.
Wind Tunnel
Fixed gear or retractable gear? Barnaby Wainfan examines the physics behind this longstanding design question.
Wind Tunnel
Barnaby Wainfan explores the optimum size of a wing and the best ways to balance performance and efficiency.
Wind Tunnel
Tail stalls have been in the news lately-Barnaby Wainfan dissects this phenomenon, and clarifies what to do and what not to do.
In Case You Missed it
Free Flight
Filing IFR gives you the flexibility to take advantage during fluctuating weather conditions rather than being at the mercy of them.
Build Your Skills: Fabric
Everyone could use a little sunscreen, and the fabric on a fabric-covered aircraft is no exception. This months installment, the last in the series, discusses pre-paint protection to minimize sun damage. By Ron Alexander.
Building Efficiently
You'll be flying your finished aircraft much sooner if you manage your time, parts, workspace and tools efficiently.