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What do vortexes have to do with lift?

Asked by: 1660 views Aerodynamics

I've been reading about and watching tutorials on lift and I cannot totally understand what vortices have to do with lift. It seems you add "vortex generators" to wings to create vortexes and theoretically generator more lift, but I don't totally seem to understand the relation. I do understand that there is higher pressure under the wing and lower pressure above the wing and the wing-tips generate vortices, but I don't get how/why you would want vortex generators on your wing span. 

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2 Answers



  1. ayavner on Jul 18, 2019

    Does this help?
    https://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/aerodynamics/vortex-generators/

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  2. willmcc on Jul 18, 2019

    I think so. Essentially what I understand is that the vortex generators keep the boundary layer closer to the airfoil, which then in turn prevents a stall from occuring, as you don’t have the pocket of nothingness there anymore, which then allows you to have a higher angle of attack without stalling.

    Please correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s basically what I get.

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