<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_(3).svg" class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%283%29.svg/220px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%283%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="107" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%283%29.svg/330px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%283%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%283%29.svg/440px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%283%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1954" data-file-height="954"></a>  <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_(3).svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Realistic lift distribution</div></div></div>
<p>A hypothetical, non-uniform lift distribution over the wing of an aircraft. Any spanwise <i>change</i> in lift would <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting-line_theory" class="extiw" title="w:Lifting-line theory">cause the shedding</a> of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailing_vortices" class="extiw" title="w:Trailing vortices">trailing vortex</a>, not necessarily at the tip.
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In practice, the lift varies continuously over the surface of the wing and a <i>sheet</i> of trailing vorticity is shed behind the aircraft. Also, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/viscosity" class="extiw" title="w:viscosity">viscosity</a> causes vortex decay (and disappearance) behind the aircraft.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ariadacapo" title="User:Ariadacapo">Olivier Cleynen</a>
CC BY-SA 3.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>