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Elliptical Wing
An elliptical wing is a wing planform whose leading and trailing edges each approximate two segments of an ellipse. It is not to be confused with annular wings, which may be elliptically shaped. Relatively few aircraft have adopted the elliptical wing, an even-smaller number of which attained mass production; the majority of aircraft that did use this feature were introduced during the 1930s and 1940s. Perhaps the most famous aircraft to feature an elliptical wing is the Supermarine Spitfire, a Second World War-era British fighter aircraft. Another example was the Heinkel He 70 "Blitz", a German fast mail plane and reconnaissance bomber; early versions of the He 111 bomber also used such a wing configuration before a simpler design was adopted for economic reasons. Properties Theoretically, the most efficient way to create lift is to generate it in an elliptical spanwise distribution across the wing. There is no inherent superiority to pure elliptical shapes and wings with oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts. Around 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell modified the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing (designed by Beverley Shenstone) with innovative sunken rivets to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937, whereupon his colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
