Abstract: The air bearing design consists of four rectangular pads. Each pad features an open rectangular pocket located at the comer of the leading and inner (closer to the disc ID) edges. The pocket opens towards the slider's leading and inner edges. The increase in linear velocity from ID to OD dictates that the slider flies lower at ID than OD. The introduction of the open pocket can effectively offset the difference due to the linear velocity. As we move from ID to OD, the steps that the skewed airflow encounters change from the forward to reverse. Consequently, the lifting force generated by the air compression at the forward steps decrease, while the suction force produced by the air expansion at the reverse step increases, reaching a maximum at OD. Both of them offset the effect of the linear velocity, yielding a constant fly height profile from ID to OD.