Delta wing

As a delta wing is called the wings of an airplane of a certain shape. Delta wing, in contrast to conventional airfoil geometries ( such as rectangular wing, elliptical wing or tapered wing ) for aircraft the shape of a triangle and thus the Greek uppercase letter delta ( Δ ). They have a relatively low profile thickness in proportion to its wingspan and depth.

Delta wings are used in supersonic aircraft, this includes fighters and horizontal land spaceships.

Delta wing obtain additional lift at high angles of attack due to two stable vortices that form along the two leading edges. Here, the flow separates in part on the surface. The air in the flow is accelerated by the vortex. The surface is covered by the resulting vacuum. Above each wing half, the air flows in a clockwise vortex inside.

Special

The absence of a complete stall represents a particular security aspect will Removing the airspeed due to a high angle of attack leads to a Delta aircraft only to a steeper sag and a higher angle of attack. Consequently, this can be compensated by sufficient thrust and the aircraft converted back into a normal flight position such as a straight flight.

Delta wings allow short term high lift, but which is paid for with a strong energy loss. The short high lift can be used for quick change of direction or back case maneuvers.

The control valve on the delta wing can also replace the stabilizer in addition to the function ailerons, flaps on the end of the surface are then controlled accordingly mixed. Alternatively or additionally, canards are used. Even the popular full tail can be combined with delta wings and duck wings.

Area of ​​application

Delta wings are particularly suitable for the supersonic. Their shape allows a large area in the Mach cone. In the subsonic range, however, they have a higher drag than traditional wings with a greater stretch at the same boost. Fighter aircraft are designed not only high speed on small curve radii and high rotation rates. For small curve radii or high angular velocity a High lift is needed for high speed low resistance. The delta wing represents a suitable compromise, he can be thin, highly swept, be of short-span and large area. The low aspect ratio results in a lower moment of inertia about the longitudinal axis, resulting in a higher rolling acceleration. His long wing root allows a high torsional stiffness.

The high resistance in the vortex lift mode was used by the Space Shuttle, in order to reduce controlling for the reentry energy. Fighters have sufficient thrust to compensate for the losses.

In the area of the delta wing model aircraft construction are widespread due to their simple construction and coating safety.

Delta planes

Known aircraft with delta wings are machines of the series:

  • Dassault Mirage III, IV, 5 and 2000
  • Dassault Rafale
  • Convair B-58
  • North American XB -70
  • Sukhoi T-4
  • Mikoyan -Gurevich MiG -21
  • Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 1:44
  • Euro Fighter Typhoon
  • Saab 35 Draken
  • Saab 37 Viggen
  • Saab JAS- 39 Gripen
  • Avro Vulcan
  • As well as the passenger supersonic jet Concorde and Tupolev Tu- 144.

The American Space Shuttle and the Russian Buran also use this airfoil shape.

Convair F-106 Delta Dart Canard (aeronautics) Mirage (aircraft) Dassault Mirage IV Dassault Mirage 5 Dassault Mirage 2000
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