A Fundamental Principle of Aeronautical Engineering Has Been Overturned | Hacker News Reader

A Fundamental Principle of Aeronautical Engineering Has Been Overturned

tohoku.ac.jp

31 pointsmhb20 comments

Discussed previously (132 comments):

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48260117

Fluid mechanics was my jam before my software engineer days! Unfortunately, I think the FAA strict regulations will prevent any of the good innovations. But you can do this thing called flow control where you can control where the boundary layer detaches on the wing. You can achieve different L/D ratios and save a TON of fuel cost. NASA supposedly was going to try it on the X-37B but civilians never knew if they did or not.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-fluid-mec...

Australian company Mako has been applying ribbed micro-surfaces to aeroplanes for a few years now, with extremely promising results.

They talk about reducing skin friction drag but due to the translation I'm not sure if that's what this article is referring to as well.

If this is the previously-discussed one, the difference here is that it's not ribbing so it's not directional.

43% less friction means 43% of fuel saved. Am I reading that right because it will change the world if true.

Not quite.

- The 43% is peak drag reduction in the transition zone only, the bit between laminar and turbulent flow, not across all flight conditions.

- Aerodynamic drag is one part of fuel burn, not a 1:1 proxy. There's also engine efficiency, etc.

- This is skin friction drag on a wind tunnel model, not a full aircraft which has extra bits like windscreen wipers.

I still think it's exciting but I reckon fuel savings would amount to a few percent (aeronautical engineers, please correct me if I'm wrong).

https://www.wired.com/story/a-fundamental-principle-of-aeron...

A 43% drag reduction is massive if this is applicable to modern planes.

https://archive.ph/sFjKf

Are we just expected to understand Japanese ? There's no English version

Its 2026.

Your browser can probably provide a reasonable translation on demand from a nearby service. FF on Linux does, so surely whatever you are rocking can manage it too.

There are lots more options.

Yes I am aware that it is the year 2026 but I don't use Firefox and there is no way to translate it. Last time I checked HN is still an English language public square, while there's instances of different languages used its more often for the comments.

The article caters to the majority of hn users that use a browser that automatically translates the article. Chrome on Android certainly did.

You are the minority demanding to be catered to.

I think it is against the spirit of this community to suppress exciting content on the basis of its language.

This community is also undoubtedly composed of the kind of problem solver that can overcome this kind of hurdle.

Even then Japanese-English translations are hardly accurate and don't often translate fluently. I'm sorry I refuse to use a browser with automatic AI translation.

I don't like to see DVs for the sake of it so I've UVd your comment because I like to engage and not suppress.

You don't need to use FF - I just gave an example. There are loads of translation sites around and if you are really desperate - chatgpt 8)

Now as to language and HN: Yes a lot of us on HN speak and write english natively. There are several varieties of english. I happen to hale from England but I don't claim to speak the real english (whatever that is). For many people here, english is a second or third tongue. They all have my utmost respect (and most have accents that gives english an extra dimension too)

I'm a fan of inclusivity and it turns out that I don't have to dig out my japanese to english dictionary to deal with this article.

What pisses me off is when a link is given to a paywalled site on HN.

My annoyance isn't that I can't read Japanese its that the English translation never really translates well. It's one of those languages where even AI never does a good enough job conveying meaning but for engineering stuff I suppose it will do.

Yes, paywall is the worst but fortunately people paste archive or links to read it which is greatly appreciated.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-fluid-mec...

Thank you, why wasn't this article posted as the submission website? Anyways if true this could have big ramifications for aviation. I suspect most of those could result in fuel savings.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com