bhall wrote:Devil's advocate: I'd caution against the use of untrained aerodynamic analysis. It's one thing to discuss such things in an informal setting such as a forum, but it's quite another to do so from an ostensibly authoritative position like a magazine. While some things within the realm are intuitive and pretty easily understood, many more aerodynamic phenomena are not.
I think a grasp of that which is obvious, combined with the fact that a complete understanding of aerodynamics simply does not exist in any form, leads many people to think they know more about it than they actually do. Lord knows I'm as guilty of that as anyone else. But, I just cringe when I see a lot of the stuff that's thrown about around here, especially some of the garbage put forth by none other than yours truly.
At any rate, it's just some food for thought. Best of luck with your magazine.
This may be true, but remember, there is also plenty of knowledge around here. I will get my MS in Aerospace in two weeks and I'm currently writing a paper regarding racecar aerodynamics. I'm still learning things all the time even though I know the fundamentals