Aero-Linx!

Scouring the information super airways can sometimes be a tough, if educational, task for the Aero-News staff... but it also allows us to check out some truly neat and exciting sites, so it's not that bad a gig. On any given day, we may check dozens (and often hundreds) of different sources for story ideas, and facts confirmation. And, as is the nature of our business, much of this is done on the Internet.

The ANN gang decided we probably shouldn't keep some of the neat sites, info resources, and organizations we've discovered to ourselves... so we decided to bring you Aero-Linx. These are the sites that WE check out -- when we need added perspective, a new spin on a day's topic... or just want to escape into cyber-aero-space for awhile.

Look for some of our favorite sites, coming each day to ANN via Aero-Linx. Suggestions for future Aero-Linx segments are always welcome, as well.

Aero-Linx: Biplanes vs. Monoplanes

Ever wondered why modern airplanes only have one set of wings? You may have heard that it's more efficient than the old biplanes, but why is that? And why do sail planes have those long thin wings? There are actually two significant reasons that a monoplane is more efficient aerodynamically than a biplane or a triplane (or any number of stacked wings if you're really ambitious), which are discussed below. One small note - the discussion below applies to subsonic flow. Once you go faster than the speed of sound and get shock waves, the aerodynamics associated with the shock waves becomes a big consideration, and low-aspect ratio wings start to look more appealing.

FMI:  www.jefflewis.net/aviation_theory-biplane_vs_monoplane.html