Airplane trailing vortices and their control

Airplane trailing vortices are examined under natural and forced conditions. Control strategies are presented, which aim to reduce the potential for severe upsets resulting from encounters with the vortices. These range from passive control, using spanload modifications, up to active control, using control-surface oscillations. Flight-simulator results are used to judge the effectiveness of the different control strategies. Active control is shown to be effective for breaking up the trailing vortices, and for reducing the potential for severe vortex-encounter upsets. Stability theory is used to explain the mechanisms underlying this form of control. To cite this article: J. Crouch, C. R. Physique 6 (2005).