Many planes have small, black triangles above certain windows. They're not decorative -- they play a part in keeping you and the plane safe.

If you've ever studied older military aircraft like the North American F-86 Sabre jet, you may have noticed that many of them had flat metal plates, known as wing fences, on the wings.

Automotive engineer Christian von Koenigsegg received a patent for a futuristic closed-wing design that could reduce airplane ...