Talk:Pylon turn - Wikipedia

hmm, so did it originate in WWII or in plane racing? This article is quite contradictory 64.90.193.188 (talk) 16:44, 21 June 2008 (UTC)Reply

Could someone please explain how, exactly, it could be used to "deliver messages or packages by plane without needing to land", (using) "a bucket on a line"? I can see that if you somehow materialise a bucket on a line at the location of the virtual pylon, it will stay more-or-less in situ, depending on the weight of the bucket, air resistance of the line, and accuracy with which the pilot executes the turn. What I cannot see is how you get the bucket into this desirable location in the first place.

If you lower the bucket whilst already performing the turn, centrifugal acceleration will cause the line to stretch outward, away from the "pylon", and once it reaches the ground, it will be whirling around in a large circle at a velocity considerably higher than the aircraft itself, doing untold damage to jungle huts and amazed natives. (If we ignore the mass and air resistance of the line, and say the plane is orbiting with radius r, velocity v and height h, then the velocity and orbital radius of the bucket are both increased by a factor 1/(1-hv²/gr²); for, e.g. v = 100 kts, h = 3,000 ft and r = 500 m, the factor is 14.7 and the bucket is whirling around a 7.3 km radius circle at 1,470 knots or about Mach 2.2)

On the other hand, if you lower the bucket whilst flying straight and level, it will be dragged along the ground at high speed, and only become the centre of a pylon turn if the pilot is able to instantaneously switch into the turn at some point where an interposing object has brought the bucket to rest. An interesting exercise for the reader is to determine what happens if the bucket manages to wedge in a large tree and turn into an anchor whilst performing this already impossible manoeuvre.

I am just unable to envisage a manoeuvre that results in the metastable configuration of a stationary bucket in the centre of turn of the aircraft. -- 202.63.39.58 (talk) 14:13, 10 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

Picture the aircraft first flying over and dropping the bucket at the center of the circle it is to perform; if given enough slack (length=radius), it can continue to the edge of the circle while the bucket remains still, and then (turning sharply) begin to follow the circular path all while the bucket remains stationary. However for other reasons, I believe this section needs to be cleaned up. I really didn't expect in-depth details of a speared missionary in an article about aircraft maneuvers.76.67.111.164 (talk) 18:42, 2 May 2010 (UTC)Reply