Forum Discussion

two-niner's avatar
two-niner
Explorer
Nov 05, 2015

AIR TABS and my lying eyes, you gotta read this!

Last summer (2015) DW and I went to the United States Air Force Museum in Ohio.

We spent three days going through and watching the IMax motion pictures. Really great for anybody with an interest in flying.

The museum was undergoing renovations and the once secret/experimental aircraft were in a separate hangar a few miles down the road. So down the road we went.

All the aircraft were jam packed and we were allowed to walk among all of them. Stuff we never seen or even heard of, and as long as you didn't touch them, walk right up close. Get ready!!

We came upon the X-2 (over 4,000 mph?) and on the trailing edge of each wing were AIR TABS!! Yep, there they were.
Class A
  • RinconVTR's avatar
    RinconVTR
    Explorer
    Nov 06, 2015
    two-niner wrote:
    Yet, there they were. It's the principle, and amazingly the same shape.

    Of course they are not the plastic stick-on's you have.

    CFI-II


    I was in the 2 hangers you are referring to myself last summer FYI, and I did not see an X-2. Not to say I could not have missed it, but I do know military and X planes very well.

    Even looking for something resembling a vortex generator on the X-2 on Google and other sites doesn't show me anything.

    Without pictures this thread is baseless. And it bothers me how you started it using "Air Tab" as a catch phrase.
  • two-niner's avatar
    two-niner
    Explorer
    Nov 05, 2015
    Yet, there they were. It's the principle, and amazingly the same shape.

    Of course they are not the plastic stick-on's you have.

    CFI-II
  • RinconVTR's avatar
    RinconVTR
    Explorer
    Nov 05, 2015
    You mean the thin plastic...vacuum formed "Air Tab" brand vortex generators was seen on an X-2 from the 50's...held on by 3M adhesive?

    IMPOSSIBLE. At the speed that aircraft traveled....they would melt right off. If they could even stay on at the low low speed of Mach 1. lol

    There might be features that resemble the air tab and there are other vortex generating shapes on a variety of aircraft there in Dayton...but absolutely not the Air Tab we know today.

    I also have experience with Air Tabs on my own vehicle and TT. No change in MPG, but when I placed a set atop my rear window spoiler, the front the trailer remains super clean. No direct bug hits anymore, except for a couple inches on each side...almost like I drew a vertical line on the trailer.
  • two-niner's avatar
    two-niner
    Explorer
    Nov 05, 2015
    sch911: This was intended for long time posters. Absolutely certain someone would post a "clicky", and I was ...
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Nov 05, 2015
    I put it in the same box with front spoilers, slotted rotors and rear wings.
    They all make lot of sense at speeds above 130 mph.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Nov 05, 2015
    Maybe that's what's needed. Since no one has been able to show that Air Tabs improve anything, maybe the next time I plan to drive my RV at 4,000 MPH I will install some Air Tabs!
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Nov 05, 2015
    Airtab wrote:
    NASA tested the basic shape that is used by Airtab®. They found them to be the lowest drag vortex generator they had seen. There are several technical papers written on vortex generators and other drag reducing devices, (NASA Recognition Paper) and the Airtab® shape was amongst those tested. This is not to imply that NASA endorses Airtabs™ - they never endorse commercial products. NASA is using them in the Langley Wind Tunnel to improve the aerodynamics on standards and walls.


    http://www.airtab.com/faqs.htm#Answer_16:_

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