General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: artik on March 09, 2017, 01:51:25 PM
Title: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: artik on March 09, 2017, 01:51:25 PM
Watching this video about wake turbulance of relatievly small An-2 aircraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXlv16ETueU
I wonder... how could pilot of relatively small plane like 109 sit on tail of huge aircraft like B-17/24 and shooting accurately without being thrown away
Title: Re: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: Zimme83 on March 09, 2017, 02:44:42 PM
A part of the answer is Angle of attack. The heaviest vortexes are produced at high AoA on take off and landing, not at cruise speed.
Title: Re: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: Busher on March 09, 2017, 06:59:37 PM
and wing tip vortices (wake turbulence) by nature, tend to descend behind and below the aircraft creating them.
Title: Re: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: Oldman731 on March 09, 2017, 08:43:33 PM
and wing tip vortices (wake turbulence) by nature, tend to descend behind and below the aircraft creating them.
But I have read accounts by German pilots of being thrown off course, or off mark, by the wake turbulence, so it was there.
- oldman (now where was it that I read that...?)
Title: Re: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: save on March 10, 2017, 12:29:57 AM
Flying into your own wake doing a 360deg turn should avoided in ultralights/VLA, when you do it you know why.
Title: Re: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: PR3D4TOR on March 10, 2017, 03:05:55 AM
From Heinz Knoke's war diary, at 3:50:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWoh67V-C4
Title: Re: Wake turbulence and WW2 bombers
Post by: colmbo on March 10, 2017, 11:25:19 AM
The biggest bump is behind and below the wingtips. When getting in tight on the B-17 with the B-24 I knew I was about right when I could feel my wingtip get pushed up a bit by the vortices off the Fortress.
I've been directly behind the B-24 in the B-17 very close and felt nothing. We closed to within 10' or so.