A Tale of Two Takeoffs
My limited exposure to aerodynamics textbooks leaves me with the
impression that airflow behind the vehicle is neglected.
When heavy jets came out, there was a spate of light aircraft crashes in
wake
encounters, followed by NASA research and guidance on avoiding.
I have not come across any formulae for air behavior behind aircraft. There
are simply general statements that the air will be descending and vortices
will trail the wing tips.
Perhaps a good analogy for being behind a towplane is that it has
similarities
for approaching a ridge from downwind - a bad place for being slow.
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