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.
Choosing the Configuration
Most of our recent discussions on the process of designing an airplane were based on the assumption that the airplane has a generally conventional...
Design Innovation
A designer must make a large number of decisions in the process of designing an airplane. These range from top-level decisions, like the overall...
Variable Geometry Cooling System
The way to reduce or eliminate excess cooling drag in cruise is to use a variable-geometry cooling system that can change shape to control the amount of air flowing through the cowling.
Cooling Outlet Design
The design must focus on sufficiently cooling the engine while minimizing drag.
Cooling: Internal Flow
Cooling the engine and its accessories requires a continuous flow of air to come in from outside the airplane to absorb heat from the...
Cooling Inlets, Part 2
As we saw last month, an ideal cooling air inlet system should ingest air from the free stream and bring it to rest or...
Cooling Inlets
The cooling air inlet serves two functions: First, and most important, the inlet must ingest enough air to properly cool the engine and accessories...
Cooling
As we saw in last month’s edition of Wind Tunnel, only about one-third of the energy released by burning the fuel in an internal...
Power and Heat
The cooling system is a major component of the airplane. It has a large impact on the performance and reliability of the machine. The...
In Case You Missed It
Build Your Skills: Composites (Part 9)
Dont let pesky pinholes ruin your homebuilt project. There is a way to deal with them, and author Bob Fritz describes how. Hint: To start with, cleanliness is always a good thing in the shop.
Dreams Take Flight
“Grandpa Kerry, where do unwanted airplane projects come from?”
I choked on my ice cream....
ELTs of Tomorrow Today
The FAA mandates the use of emergency locator transmitters so that downed aircraft can be found and assistance provided. But times are changing, and its important to understand the nature of the new technology so that you can best equip yourself; by Bob Fritz.