And even without 'dropping' the flawed, but dearly cherished, notion of 'airflow', treating Ground Effect as a SURFACE-SPECIFIC 'synergy' between a wing and any land or water that happens to be close beneath it would FULLY EXPLAIN why the effect's so different when approached from above and below.
Sounds great...!
But I have a question:
If the error has gone uncorrected for around a Century
- can a surviving institution win the award by retracting on their researcher's posthumous behalf...?
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airpronews.com/2026/03/11/d...
Hi Elizabeth...!
I've been trying for some time to get Science Writers excited about a Scientific Revolution that's waiting to happen
- and it revolves around the BRAINS OF BIRDS.
Aerodynamics is incredibly COMPLICATED; bird brains aren't. BUT what if...
- it's DISPLACEMENT, not 'airflow'...?
Thanks, Rebecca; I'll email for a more focused conversation...!
But in the meantime, may I ask you to look at some of my 'endless threads'* on here, & maybe comment/ask..? Reposting so that others can comment would help, too.
(*they might keep growing until 2101...)
bsky.app/profile/pneu...
If you 'like a bit of positivity', David, then have I got news for you.
Another revolution just like the one that (eventually...) UPGRADED Astronomy in 1514 is waiting to happen in Aerodynamics. Reposting and commenting on my material
(Commentarioli, really...)
can give that process a boost...
Aerodynamics is ON FIRE, Rebecca, or soon will be
- and it's going to put Science centre-stage in every aspect of life.
That's happened before; it was called The Enlightenment, and it followed a revolution in Astronomy. The next one, in Aero, is well overdue.
bsky.app/profile/pneu...
Persistent Aero Myths:
'Wings and Sails are Really the Same Thing'
11/n
Two decades and a World War later Wolfgang Langewiesche is DEEPLY UNCOMFORTABLE, in his book 'Stick and Rudder', with the 'convenient fiction' of Relative Wind
- and resorts to a vague wing/sail analogy in explaining it.
Ironically, it doesn't
- but 'conservatism' isn't really about GAINING anything.
It's about preserving a familiar hierarchy, including its power and privilege structures, from changes that could THREATEN the protection conferred by wealth.
'Progress' brings gain, but also much percrived risk...
“These barriers are not about women’s capabilities; they are about the environments we create and the assumptions and behaviours we allow to persist.”
We’re welcoming a call for more support for women in research: https://raeng.org.uk/news/women-in-science-conference-quote/
'We Don't Know How We Won The War'
38/n
Using the word 'ironically', but clearly trying to cast doubt on the originality of David's work, Walter mentions a possible 'family resemblance' to the RAF34 profile
- WITHOUT saying it was a DeHavilland favourite, used on their outstanding DH98 Mosquito.
True enough. And boosting them is the 'Social' part of Social Media.
Which opinions to boost is a choice presented by 'the feed', and it's often misunderstood. Charlatans and grifters aren't damaged by 'negative publicity', as honest folk are; it becomes a 'springboard'.
bsky.app/profile/kity...
That's 'and', not 'but'.
IMO, an army of Trump's detractors, mostly Democrat, delivered him to the White House by providing 'the oxygen of publicity'.
As Jeremy points out, the British peer Viscount Ridley is already WELL-KNOWN, as his wealthy (coal-trading) family has been for generations.
'We Don't Know How We Won The War'
36/n
Writing in the 1980s, Walter even puts some effort into lampooning David's use of a fast car to test Airfoil models, with an anecdote invoking the popular stereotype
(and Hollywood trope...)
of a cartoonishly eccentric inventor.
And 'throwback'.
I don't know if your intention was to give an author whose views you appear to oppose 5 posts worth of publicity
- but the fact is you have promoted him, and his lecture, when he would not have received that 'coverage' had you ignored his event...
www.newscientist.com/article/dn17...
(46/n)
The conceptual 'problem' with a compression zone ahead of the wing
(generated by the 'pile up' of air being pressed forward into air that's already there...)
& an 'evacuated' zone behind it
(in space the wing just left...)
is that both regions are causing even MORE AIR to move forwards.
(45/n)
In Flight Effect, just as in Ground Effect, the presence of 'pumped' and 'drawn out' regions in the air around an airplane wing is both conceptually necessary and measurably true
- AND poses a CHALLENGE to airflow-based Theories-of-Lift.
bsky.app/profile/pneu...
Even in the 20th Century, it ought to have been obvous that IF a notional area of GROUND (or sea...) surface equal to that of a wing's lower surface were involved in generating Ground Effect, then the wing's UPPER surface might easily be partly or wholly UNINVOLVED in the process.
The longer bodies like the FAA persist in supporting a Century-old PREJUDICE against good analysis made by 'mere pilots'
(lacking, it was supposed, the mathematical 'depth' to PROPERLY understand flight...)
- the more UNDIGNIFIED their retreat will be when real-world facts eventually prevail.
Dynamic shot of a metrobus navigating rainy streets in Washington, DC with iconic landmarks in the background.
Air inside a #transit bus can affect comfort, performance, and the spread of airborne pathogens. A new #TCRP publication explores practical air management strategies to help agencies maintain safe, healthy conditions for riders and operators. Learn more: https://ow.ly/SEzj50Yoj9Q
NASA space probe expected to re-enter the atmosphere with a chance of raining debris www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...
Airbus delivered 35 aircraft in Feb 2026, with 25 from the A320neo family. Orders include 25 A320neos from Air Astana. Engine shortages from Pratt & Whitney slow production ramp-up. Airbus targets 870 deliveries in 2026. #Airbus #A320neo #PrattWhitney
airpronews.com/2026/03/10/a...
(In a spirit of curiosity I've grown used to, Matt has BLOCKED me
- perhaps believing me to be an AI...?
However, the point I made in order to earn his ire remains valid; Academics 'sleep-walked' into the present crisis by DEMOTING Critical Thought long before AI was available to stamp it out...)
A new Scientific Revolution, driving the return of Salons, is 'the way'
- and it starts (just as the last one arose from Cosmology...) in Aerodynamics.
You may have no interest at all in Aero, but the point of a Salon is curiosity for its own sake. Your stated ambition DESCRIBES a Salon...
My 'classroom' is Bluesky
- and I'm pretty sure a few of my followers think I'm an AI, because I frequently use the 'em-dash' for haiku-like effect.
But my material defeats AI by INNOVATING; LLMs are bound by an Aero literature that overwhelmingly
(& wrongly)
sees AIRFLOW where none exists...
If you REALLY want to 'save critical thinking', Matt
- then a Scientific Revolution is somewhere between 'pretty useful' and 'absolutely necessary'.
But if what you REALLY want to save is 'Business as usual in Academe', then Critical Thinking has been redundant for a Century or more...
Archer prepares for eVTOL passenger flights as war looms over UAE plan runwaygirlnetwork.com/2026/03/arch... #GreenWing
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Early promotion for the forthcoming movie:
'Born on the Sixth of January'...?
