<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_(1).svg" class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%281%29.svg/220px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%281%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="108" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%281%29.svg/330px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%281%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%281%29.svg/440px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%281%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="2367" data-file-height="1166"></a>  <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_(1).svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Theoretical lift distribution</div></div></div>
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_(2).svg" class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%282%29.svg/220px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%282%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="105" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%282%29.svg/330px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%282%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%282%29.svg/440px-Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_%282%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="2367" data-file-height="1130"></a>  <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_wing_lift_distribution_showing_trailing_vortices_(2).svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Non-uniform lift distribution</div></div></div>
<p>A realistic lift distribution over the wing of an aircraft. The continuously-changing lift distribution causes the shedding of a vortex sheet whose strength varies span-wise.
</p><p>The generation of negative lift at the tail and the reduction of lift around the fuselage cause the shedding of vortices rotating in the direction opposite to that of the tip vortices.
</p>
The vortex sheet often eventually rolls-up into two distinctive tip vortices that decay due to viscosity.
<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>