An Aerodynamic Comparison

The more I watch videos of the F-16 and the F-22, the more the aerodynamic differences stand out. I’ll address three separate issues: the wing root vortices generated at high angles of attack, flaperons versus ailerons, and the control surfaces located on the leading edges of the wings (what are those called?). These are just observations, with a general, “why’d they do that,” on a few things.

1)  Wing Root Vortices

The F-16’s leading edge strakes generate wing root vortices at high angles of attack that extend the length of the fuselage, due to its blended body design.  These in fact increase its stability at such angles by preventing wing root stalling, and I’ve also heard that they help maintain the relative lift capacity of the wings in the same situations.

The F-22 lacks such leading edge strakes because of the positioning of the intakes (which also impede the pilot’s visibility when looking down and back).  Vortices are still formed at high AoA, but the most glaring difference is how fast they dissipate in comparison to those formed by the F-16.  While those on the Viper extend the length of the entire airframe, those on the Raptor are broken up just behind the cockpit.

2)  Flaperons/Ailerons

The F-16 was the first fighter jet to use computer-driven control surfaces, or “fly-by-wire.”  Instead of using ailerons to roll the airframe, it instead did away with them altogether and substituted “flaperons” on the inboard trailing edges of the wings.  By using a combination of these and the horizontal stabilizers, the Viper rolls.

While the F-22 also uses a fly-by-wire system and rolls similarly to the F-16, it still has ailerons.  That’s all I have on this one, just wondering why that is.

3)  Leading Edge Thingies

Pardon the highly-technical jargon, but I don’t know the official name of them.  Anyways, when the YF-16 was unveiled, its wings were unique in that the leading edges automatically changed their pitch based on pilot input.  This changed the camber of the wing, increasing the lift of the wings, and thus making it able to pull much harder turns.  On the F-16, the leading edge surface area accounts for roughly 9% of the total wing surface area.

The F-22’s leading edge surfaces account for about 3%.

That’s it, that’s all I wanted to comment on.  Since this is about as far as my education in aerodynamics extends (i.e. stuff I read on the internet) any more expert opinions are appreciated.  Laters.

Another Reason Why Vista Should Burn

At this point, it’s like sand off a beach, but here’s my story about an experience with the latest “issue” (a euphemism at best) with Windows Vista:

So I packed up my computer in Florida on May 27th, the day before I left for Washington.  It had been working “fine” (read my previous post “Windows Vista: Pile of Crap”) for the year that I was in Mexico Beach, specifically regarding my wireless connection to my roommate’s router which was upstairs.  I got out to Oklahoma City on the 27th of June, and as soon as I was able to get my computer connected again, it immediately froze solid at the login screen, forcing a hard reboot.

I had not touched anything since it was packed in my car a month earlier, so what the hell was this?  After numerous restarts in safe mode, I was able to narrow down the root of the problem, which at first I pinpointed the Extensive Authentification Protocol (EAP) service that ran at startup.  When it was enabled, my computer froze at the login screen, when disabled, it ran “fine” again.  Great!  I’ve solved the problem.

And then the cable guy came over to connect my cable and internet.  I found that I got internet when I was hardwired to the jack, but as soon as I tried to get a wireless signal, my computer couldn’t find anything.  When asked to diagnose the problem, it responded that the Windows Wireless service was not running.  Ah, so the EAP service must be a requisite.  Entering the service module, I quickly enabled the EAP service again, fingers crossed, and found that the computer continued to run.  Weird.  Well, maybe it sorted itself out.  The computer diagnosed the problem again, and asked me if I wanted to start the Windows Wireless service.  I clicked yes, the window came up saying the problem was solved, and the computer locked up into another irrecoverable situation.

I laughed to myself because of the irony staring me right in the face.  I find myself now connected to the internet via a cable running across my bedroom, because no forum online has faced this problem quite like I have.  They should have called this crap Microsoft Osprey: a horrible idea that somebody said was good to go and released to the public with more problems than solutions.

Any Microsoft staff responsible for this crap’s release without proper QC has a free ticket for a ride down a flight of stairs off my foot, redeemable anywhere.  Thanks.

I’m Baaaaack…

Oh what, you thought I forgot about my Weblargh? Piffle! I’ve just been busy packing, traveling across the country to get beat up, and then moving out to Oklahoma. Fun.

And yet I’m bored out of my mind, which is usually the root cause of my contributions to my own page. I just got all my stuff moved in from two states, and this place isn’t quite big enough to hold it all. Waiting for the 26th when I get married and drag my new wife out here so we can find a house.

So loyal reader(s?) we’ll get back down to business soon, probably later today if this stupid computer keeps acting up. I’m about ready to punt it out the window. Stick around! I’m going to stop being really lazy for a little while, but that usually doesn’t last long.