C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 20:25:10 -0400

Maybe you've not noticed, but turbofans have a little winglet thing on the
side nearest the fuselage.  Here's a picture:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5165/5299645391_afdc8004a4.jpg

It turns out that these things are called "nacelle strakes" (and "jet engines"
are turbofans).  They're needed because at low speeds and high angles of
attack the engine gets in the way of the airflow over the wing.  These make a
vortex that helps keep the air "stuck" and avoids stalling.

More here: http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/tech_ops/read.main/271056

And yes, that took me about an hour of googling... next, is it true that
windows directly aligned with the turbofan blades are blocked off to avoid
dead passangers if it flies apart?  It certainly seems like that in several
planes I used last week...

Andrew