Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Be they fences or speed brakes??????
For some time now, I'v had a running conversation (OK, disagreement.) with a good friend of mine concerning certain parts of an aircraft. I'm specifically referring to those hinged plate thingys on the top of the wings halfway between the leading edge and trailing edge of the wing. If you've ever been on a commercial jet and sat next to the wing and watched, you'll occasoinaly see them flip up and down. That means they're being used to make minor corrections in the rolling motion of aircraft. My friend has always referred to them as "speed brakes" and I've been calling them wing fences. They're more than merely speed brakes because they're often used to make small corrections in the rolling motion of aircraft. Wait, I said that already. They're also used to help bring the aircraft to a stop after the plane lands. They can be set so that they'll deploy automatically when the wheels hit the runway.
Sigh.
Damn, it really pains me to have to say this.
It turns out I've been mistaken. (God I hate that. At least it doesn't happen too often.)
They're NOT called wing fences. They're called spoilers. They're called that because they're used to "spoil" the lift of that particular wing. When one wing has more lift than the other, it raises, thus they're used for minor course corrections when cruising at altitude. For more robust turns, and at lower altitudes the aelerons are used instead.
But, in my defense, they're not called "speed brakes" either, because they do more than that.
[edit] They ain't airbrakes either.
[edit] They ain't airbrakes either.
So there.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
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hariseldon67 Wrote: It turns out I've been mistaken. (God I hate that. At least it doesn't happen too often.
No, it doesn't. And I *think* the term airbrakes is slang, although I recently saw it used on a respected avaiation publication. Your definition of Spoilers is indeed correct!! Pour some of your sauce on my half of that crow pie and let's get on with it.:)
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No, it doesn't. And I *think* the term airbrakes is slang, although I recently saw it used on a respected avaiation publication. Your definition of Spoilers is indeed correct!! Pour some of your sauce on my half of that crow pie and let's get on with it.:)
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