wake turbulence
The pair of counter-rotating vortices trailing from an aircraft's wingtips, strong enough to upset a following aircraft.
Also written
wake vortexwake vortices
Lift produces circulation, and the circulation rolls off each wingtip as a vortex that sinks and drifts downwind. Strength scales with weight and inverse with speed, so a heavy jet flying slowly on approach is the worst case. Controllers apply minimum separation distances behind larger aircraft for this reason, and the wake categories are where the ATC use of the word "heavy" comes from.
Nearby in Aviation
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