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The two contending planes featured in "Battle of the X-Planes" make use of radically different wing designs: one uses a triangular-shaped delta wing; the other, traditional wings. Each design has its advantages and disadvantages. The delta wing, for example, has low drag at high speeds due to its swept-back shape, and it weighs less, which allows more fuel to be carried. But the delta wing has more drag when maneuvering. Traditional wings, on the other hand, have less drag when maneuvering but more drag at high speeds, and they are heavier.

Also affecting lift is the wing's airfoil shape—the shape of the wing as seen in a cross-sectional view between the wing's leading and trailing edges. Here the tradeoff is between lift and drag, or how efficiently the airfoil moves through the air: a wing with a lot of lift typically has a lot of drag, and a wing with little drag typically has little lift. The two features below present the basics of airfoil design and flight.

• Getting Airborne (187K)

  Find out what it is that allows wings to pull an aircraft aloft. Requires Flash plugin.

• Wing Designs (187K)

  Experiment with various airfoil shapes to see the advantages and disadvantages of each. Requires Flash plugin.

Note: The airfoil shapes, airflow diagrams, and lift and drag numbers presented in "Wing Designs" were generated by the software application VisualFoil. To learn more about VisualFoil, go to www.hanleyinnovations.com.

Airfoil Aerodynamics Find out more about lift and what makes a plane fly. Anatomy of the Concorde See what it takes to fly faster than the speed of sound. Sonic Boom Basics What's the cause of a sonic boom? Find out here.

Rick Groleau is managing editor of NOVA online.