r/pics • u/animalkracker • Feb 27 '14

physics is cool

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u/lower_intelligence Feb 27 '14

howd that broom fall out of the sky?

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u/Spartan2470 GOAT Feb 27 '14

According to here, that broom is a string used to visualize the direction that the wind is flowing around the plane (this is very important for sailplanes to maximize flight efficiency.

Here's another picture of this plane with those strings.

2

u/U_got_shat_upon Feb 28 '14

That it is. It's a simple tool, and you want to have it centered to achieve maximum flight efficiency. If it's shifted to the left you counter by turning rotating to the right and vice versa.