Go Back  RCU Forums > RC Airplanes > Aerodynamics
Reload this Page >

my take on wings

Community
Search
Notices
Aerodynamics Discuss the physics of flight revolving around the aerodynamics and design of aircraft.

my take on wings

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 12-04-2010, 09:43 PM
  #26  
Lnewqban
 
Lnewqban's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 4,057
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

ORIGINAL: rmh

The flat plate is not for the man carrying stuf but works extremely well in setups with low wing loadings
for example a 6 ounce model with 275 square inches.
One can fritter away time trying for a better setup on aerobats of this size but gain nothing in performance. The advent of really efficient electric power setups (very light weight and powerful) plus foamed plastics which are strong yet compliant enough to not break easily, have made possible -instant cut n try engineering.
The results have proven to be excellent in that the cost and time involved from idea to actual use is in minutes - not weeks.
Enough power to weight ratios can produce amazing results.

Check this "flatfoil" performance out:

http://www.nanoplanes.net/bshark.html
Lnewqban is offline  
Old 12-05-2010, 12:08 AM
  #27  
UStik
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Augsburg, GERMANY
Posts: 1,017
Received 8 Likes on 8 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

ORIGINAL: Lnewqban

Enough power to weight ratios can produce amazing results.

Check this ''flatfoil'' performance out:

http://www.nanoplanes.net/bshark.html
Yes, amazing, but that's just not a flatfoil, maybe for structural reasons, who knows. We should even more think about what a slab stab does to the pitch stability of a model, but we'd need additional research about a flat plate hit by turbulent wing wake and by propwash. Maybe even the dreaded Kwik-Fli dance could be explained. Usual university research seems to be about better airfoils but not about such basic practical questions. There's no interest and no funding for that.
UStik is offline  
Old 12-05-2010, 04:55 AM
  #28  
rmh
Senior Member
 
rmh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: , UT
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

The Kwick Fly Dance had a simple fix.
The cause was the location of the plastic canopy.
Change the canopy or eliminate it and the "dance "went away
I tried this on miine and it worked
Also I learned how to generate the dance in similar models, through an unexpected problem at a fun fly event.
My model (it was in 1974) was a typical box fuselage type, to which I added a paper cup just forward the canopy.
The cup held an egg for the egg drop.
the model danced shortly after take off -
Moving the cup eliminated the problem
The disturbed air from th cup location, greatly reduced rudder efficiency and the tail simply established a harmonic wag
rmh is offline  
Old 12-05-2010, 06:16 AM
  #29  
UStik
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Augsburg, GERMANY
Posts: 1,017
Received 8 Likes on 8 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

Thanks so much for this information!
UStik is offline  
Old 12-05-2010, 02:15 PM
  #30  
jester_s1
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 7,266
Received 35 Likes on 30 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

Even a flat plate is an airfoil. It has thickness, and the airflow does accelerate more over the top of it than the bottom. With a rounded leading edge, the boundary layer stays on fairly well at low angles of attack. But even with a squared or sharp leading edge the acceleration and pressure drop still occurs, even though the critical stall angle is so low that the practical lift produced is fairly low. For the OP, if you really think it's mostly about air deflection off the bottom of the wing, then pull the covering off the top and see what happens. Many of the early designs essentially had a top but no bottom because testing showed that it's airflow over the top of a curved surface that produces enough practical lift to make airplanes possible.
jester_s1 is offline  
Old 12-05-2010, 03:13 PM
  #31  
rmh
Senior Member
 
rmh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: , UT
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

actually-there was a top and bottom just a verrrrry thin wing
anything which is non porous will provide a chance for pressure differences -and that is what makes it all work.
There have ben endless writings about downwash , hogwash, etc., but when the final verdict is in it's all about pressure differences. The shapes used simply change the efficiency.
We all tend to overcomplicate "what makes it fly".

Basic rules :
Ifn it's light enough - nothing else matters
Ifn its too heavy there is no fixn it
Ifn you make it go fast enough anything will fly
Ifn it stops movin fast enough-it's through flying
rmh is offline  
Old 12-06-2010, 06:01 AM
  #32  
lehanover
Junior Member
My Feedback: (4)
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Zephyrhills, FL
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

Newtons second law of motion states that Force=Mass X acceleration.

If you sit at the end of a runway all day long as a kid, you get that law used on you with every big plane that goes over you. The downwash of a 747 is just not to be believed until you experience it.

So how much sucking would it take to hold a 500 ton A380 off of the ground using Bernoulli?

http://www.amasci.com/wing/airfoil.html

Quite a bit I think. But that low pressure area above the wing is of great importance, because it helps get a Mass of air moving around the wing. Up and over the top and down at the rear. It is the acceleration of this Mass of air in the downward direction that supports the plane.

Notice that the drooped leading edges move down and scoop more air in afront view that must thenmove over the top of the wing. This air acceleratesreducing its pressure andassisting in lift but only a small amount. Perhaps 15%
of the total. Notice the tripple slotted fowler flaps hanging down into the airstream, the last onecan be at more than 50 degrees in some aircraft. On the F-4 Fantom the plain flaps go down to nearly 90 degrees. N-2 compressorair is blown down the back of the flaps and from the back of the drooped leading edges to keep Bernoulli flow attached to the wing and flaps without regardto airspeed. So a 74,000 fighter can float back aboard like a Piper cub instead of a freight train.

Notice that real aiplane airfoils have a zero lift line. This is a line that represents the nose down attitude when airflow inducedlift is in ballance on top and bottom and the airfoil is producing zero lift and zero downforce.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/foil2.html

Download Foilsim and build any number of airfoils and watch the performance. Itsfree sort of. Your taxes paid for it.

Here for basic understanding and nomenclature.http://www.infouse.com/planemath/act...s_teacher.html

The rest of the lift is just the angle of attack. You might say that it is a Dynamic form of lift. Like you hand out the car window. Would you build a wing that looks like you hand? Yet it seems to work at 60 MPH.

During the design of the A-4 Skyhawk by Douglass, a young engineer was assigned to pick the most effective airfoil.
He spent a month collecting data on every known airfoil and sorting out the peak performance of each in the hope of developing the PERFECT airfoil for the project. The chief engineer looked at the outcome and told the young fellow to calculate it again using two sheets of 3/4" plywood laminated together. Dumbfounded, the young guy returned in a few hours to report that performance would be off by about 4%.

Most airfoils are stalled by 14 degrees of angle of attack. So the flow separation reduces the amount of air rotating around the upper surface, and the downwash is reduced, so a loss of lift is suffered. A loss but not all.

A real snap roll is performed with the stick centered but pulled back all of the way (Stalling the wing) and the rudder hard over against the stops. So, a snap roll is a flat spin performed in the horizontal. So it matters not at all what the ailerons look like.

Google Coanda Effect.

Lynn E. Hanover
lehanover is offline  
Old 12-06-2010, 07:33 AM
  #33  
rmh
Senior Member
 
rmh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: , UT
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

ORIGINAL: lehanover

.

e that real aiplane airfoils have a zero lift line. This is a line that represents the nose down attitude when airflow induced lift is in ballance on top and bottom and the airfoil is producing zero lift and zero downforce.

<Lynn E. Hanover
yup- many lightplanes and non aerobatic planes were setup this way-
Really high performance aerobatic stuff use fully symm shapes and change AOA as needed.
Shape is related to desired efficiency for the task at hand
.
rmh is offline  
Old 12-07-2010, 09:12 PM
  #34  
banktoturn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bloomington, MN,
Posts: 762
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings


ORIGINAL: lehanover

Newtons second law of motion states that Force=Mass X acceleration.

If you sit at the end of a runway all day long as a kid, you get that law used on you with every big plane that goes over you. The downwash of a 747 is just not to be believed until you experience it.

So how much sucking would it take to hold a 500 ton A380 off of the ground using Bernoulli?

http://www.amasci.com/wing/airfoil.html

Quite a bit I think. But that low pressure area above the wing is of great importance, because it helps get a Mass of air moving around the wing. Up and over the top and down at the rear. It is the acceleration of this Mass of air in the downward direction that supports the plane.

Notice that the drooped leading edges move down and scoop more air in a front view that must then move over the top of the wing. This air accelerates reducing its pressure and assisting in lift but only a small amount. Perhaps 15%
of the total. Notice the tripple slotted fowler flaps hanging down into the airstream, the last one can be at more than 50 degrees in some aircraft. On the F-4 Fantom the plain flaps go down to nearly 90 degrees. N-2 compressor air is blown down the back of the flaps and from the back of the drooped leading edges to keep Bernoulli flow attached to the wing and flaps without regard to airspeed. So a 74,000 fighter can float back aboard like a Piper cub instead of a freight train.

Notice that real aiplane airfoils have a zero lift line. This is a line that represents the nose down attitude when airflow induced lift is in ballance on top and bottom and the airfoil is producing zero lift and zero downforce.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/foil2.html

Download Foilsim and build any number of airfoils and watch the performance. Its free sort of. Your taxes paid for it.

Here for basic understanding and nomenclature. http://www.infouse.com/planemath/act...s_teacher.html

The rest of the lift is just the angle of attack. You might say that it is a Dynamic form of lift. Like you hand out the car window. Would you build a wing that looks like you hand? Yet it seems to work at 60 MPH.

During the design of the A-4 Skyhawk by Douglass, a young engineer was assigned to pick the most effective airfoil.
He spent a month collecting data on every known airfoil and sorting out the peak performance of each in the hope of developing the PERFECT airfoil for the project. The chief engineer looked at the outcome and told the young fellow to calculate it again using two sheets of 3/4'' plywood laminated together. Dumbfounded, the young guy returned in a few hours to report that performance would be off by about 4%.

Most airfoils are stalled by 14 degrees of angle of attack. So the flow separation reduces the amount of air rotating around the upper surface, and the downwash is reduced, so a loss of lift is suffered. A loss but not all.

A real snap roll is performed with the stick centered but pulled back all of the way (Stalling the wing) and the rudder hard over against the stops. So, a snap roll is a flat spin performed in the horizontal. So it matters not at all what the ailerons look like.

Google Coanda Effect.

Lynn E. Hanover
It is intuitive to a lot of people to try to separate the lift into the 'sucking' component and the 'downwash' component, but it is not legitimate to do this. The lift is simply the difference between the pressure on the bottom and the pressure on the top. In many cases, the coefficient of pressure on the top is more negative than it is positive on the bottom. Forget about 'Bernoulli vs. Newton'; there is no distinction, and you don't get to choose which is more important. The Bernoulli equation works just fine under the appropriate conditions, and is not exclusive of F=mA. The Coanda Effect doesn't change this one bit.

banktoturn
banktoturn is offline  
Old 12-08-2010, 04:00 AM
  #35  
rmh
Senior Member
 
rmh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: , UT
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

I think many are try to understand the side effects and the methods for increasing efficiency.
pressure difference is-of course the basic reason-for flight and the weather .
rmh is offline  
Old 12-08-2010, 04:52 AM
  #36  
lehanover
Junior Member
My Feedback: (4)
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Zephyrhills, FL
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

The various airfoil shapes, even the flat ones like sheets of plywood, need only alter airflow into a vector in the downward direction. Like a pool ball off a bank shot. So, the flat wing glider, although not very efficient can perform well for its weight. It does generate rotation just as a fully developed airfoil. It does generate a downwash, just not much.

Bernoulli explains the higher velocity of air over the top. Coanda explains the rotation, and Newton tells us how many tons of air per second displaced downward and at what vector is required for level flight.

Nobody picks anything. Now downwash = no flight.

Mother Nature's rules, not mine.

Lynn E. Hanover
lehanover is offline  
Old 12-08-2010, 05:21 AM
  #37  
rmh
Senior Member
 
rmh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: , UT
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

Some aerodynamics which are interesting -to me.
We have a number of mountains in our area and the winds change quite predictably as the temperature changes during a day
In a few areas there are very solid updrafts much of the time -which are used by hang gliders and model glider guys.
If you look at the flows - you can see how the pressures follow around or thru the hills and valleys
Just like air flows around a wing/fuselage etc..
Those living near the canyons , see this effect daily.
rmh is offline  
Old 12-08-2010, 07:08 AM
  #38  
banktoturn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bloomington, MN,
Posts: 762
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings


ORIGINAL: lehanover

The various airfoil shapes, even the flat ones like sheets of plywood, need only alter airflow into a vector in the downward direction. Like a pool ball off a bank shot. So, the flat wing glider, although not very efficient can perform well for its weight. It does generate rotation just as a fully developed airfoil. It does generate a downwash, just not much.

Bernoulli explains the higher velocity of air over the top. Coanda explains the rotation, and Newton tells us how many tons of air per second displaced downward and at what vector is required for level flight.

Nobody picks anything. Now downwash = no flight.

Mother Nature's rules, not mine.

Lynn E. Hanover
The Bernoulli equation doesn't explain the higher velocity of air over the top, it simply predicts the resulting pressure. The laws of Newtonian mechanics (F=mA and its companions) explain every facet of the air's motion, including the Coanda effect, and not limited to the downward displacement. Treating these things as distinct, independent phenomena is incorrect. When you do that, you are "picking".

"No Downwash=no flight" is correct. So are these: No pressure difference=no downwash, no circulation=no downwash, no circulation=no pressure difference, no viscosity=no lift, ... Choosing any of these as more important or separate from the others is meaningless and incorrect.

banktoturn
banktoturn is offline  
Old 12-08-2010, 07:23 AM
  #39  
Lnewqban
 
Lnewqban's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 4,057
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

.........and here are the formulas that try to take everything into consideration:

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/nseqs.html
Lnewqban is offline  
Old 12-09-2010, 03:01 PM
  #40  
BMatthews
 
BMatthews's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chilliwack, BC, CANADA
Posts: 12,425
Likes: 0
Received 22 Likes on 19 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

Lehanover and B2T, I'm not sure from the replies to each other if you're teaming up or disagreeing.  But from where I'm reading it looks like you're both in total agreement and are "tag teaming" at slam dunking the same information onto us...

B2T, haven't seen you posting in some time.  It's nice to have you back again.
BMatthews is offline  
Old 12-11-2010, 06:29 PM
  #41  
Shoe
 
Shoe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Stuttgart, GERMANY
Posts: 336
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

I have to agree with BankToTurn. It is possible to accurately "decompose" lift into a component that is due to surface pressures that are below ambient atmospheric pressure (suction) and a component due to surface pressures that are above atmospheric pressure. However, It is NOT possible to accurately decompose lift into a compotent due to surface pressures and a component due to momentum transfer ("Newton" or "F=ma"). The two phenomena are both at work, but they are inextricably connected. Depending on your perspective, the surface pressures cause the momentum transfer or the momentum transfer causes the surface pressures.

Looking at a slightly difeerent problem, You can sum up all of the momentum leaving a rocket engine and figure out the engine's thrust. You can also sum up all of the pressures acting on the surface of the rocket engine to figure out it's thrust. Either method will give the same answer. It's not that some of the thrust is coming from momentum and some from pressure. The fact that you can attribute ALL of the thrust to momentum transfer or ALL of the thrust to surface pressures is not a contradiction. Newton's 2nd law establishes the connection between the two... You can't have one without the other.
Shoe is offline  
Old 12-13-2010, 07:25 AM
  #42  
banktoturn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bloomington, MN,
Posts: 762
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings


Hi BMatthews,

Mostly, I think I'm disagreeing with Lehanover; sorry I wasn't clear. The day job seems to fill most of my hours, but I try to stop by once in a while, thanks.

Hi Shoe,

Nicely put; I think you captured it very well with the rocket explanation.

banktoturn
banktoturn is offline  
Old 12-19-2010, 11:32 AM
  #43  
Rob2160
Senior Member
 
Rob2160's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Posts: 4,786
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings



Bernoulli Sucks

A wing changes the position of air molecules - each molecule has mass.

For every action there is an equal and oppositie REACTION..

Pushing air down will create a reaction on the wing UPWARDS...

It always amazes me how people can think lift is produced due to the LOWER pressure on the upper surface of the wing..

HOW does that EXPLAIN the Incredible DOWNWASH from a helicopter when it is hovering - have you tried standing under a hovering helicopter? - Good luck!

Or how does it explain the PROPELLER wash that will BLOW a person OVER if you stand behind even a light aircraft at full throttle..

The Wing / Rotor and Propellor DEFLECT air molecules and the lift or Thrust created is the equal and opposite reaction...

VERY SIMPLE Physics

Rob2160 is offline  
Old 12-20-2010, 10:45 AM
  #44  
Lnewqban
 
Lnewqban's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 4,057
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

See picture of post #14.

VERY SIMPLE Physics at work
Lnewqban is offline  
Old 12-20-2010, 09:55 PM
  #45  
Shoe
 
Shoe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Stuttgart, GERMANY
Posts: 336
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings



HOW does that EXPLAIN the Incredible DOWNWASH from a helicopter when it is hovering - have you tried standing under a hovering helicopter? - Good luck!
Quite easily actually... The air in the helicopter's downwash has to come from somewhere. For a helicopter in a hover, it's quite apparent that the air in the downwash comes from above the rotor disk. What causes initially stationary air to accelerate downward toward the rotor disk? Low pressure above the rotor. Is it the low pressure above the rotor disk or the downwash that's responsible for the lift force on the helicopter? The answer to that question is simply: "yes". You can't have the pressure differential across the rotor disk without the downwash... and you can't have the downwash without the pressure differential.

Shoe is offline  
Old 12-21-2010, 09:42 AM
  #46  
otrcman
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Arroyo Grande, CA
Posts: 743
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings


ORIGINAL: Shoe



HOW does that EXPLAIN the Incredible DOWNWASH from a helicopter when it is hovering - have you tried standing under a hovering helicopter? - Good luck!
Quite easily actually... The air in the helicopter's downwash has to come from somewhere. For a helicopter in a hover, it's quite apparent that the air in the downwash comes from above the rotor disk. What causes initially stationary air to accelerate downward toward the rotor disk? Low pressure above the rotor. Is it the low pressure above the rotor disk or the downwash that's responsible for the lift force on the helicopter? The answer to that question is simply: ''yes''. You can't have the pressure differential across the rotor disk without the downwash... and you can't have the downwash without the pressure differential.


Well stated, Shoe. I understood you perfectly. But then I understood the concept already. It's difficult for some folks to get their minds wrapped around the idea that all these constructs are but snapshots of a process.

Lets try an analogy. What is sound ? Is it the vibrating of the speaker's vocal chords ? Is it the pressure waves in the air created by the speaker ? Is it the sympathetic vibration of the listener's ear drums ? Or is it the motion of the fluid in the listener's inner ear ? The answer to all of the above is YES ! Every observation on the sound phenomenon is valid and none excludes or dispels the other. Just steps in the process.

So it is with lift.

Dick
otrcman is offline  
Old 12-22-2010, 05:21 AM
  #47  
Lnewqban
 
Lnewqban's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 4,057
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings


ORIGINAL: Rob2160

HOW does that EXPLAIN the Incredible DOWNWASH from a helicopter when it is hovering - have you tried standing under a hovering helicopter? - Good luck!
This picture demonstrates that there is an incredible UPWASH as well:

http://www.modelflying.co.uk/sites/3...7/att00044.jpg
Lnewqban is offline  
Old 12-22-2010, 07:41 AM
  #48  
otrcman
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Arroyo Grande, CA
Posts: 743
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings


ORIGINAL: Lnewqban

This picture demonstrates that there is an incredible UPWASH as well:

http://www.modelflying.co.uk/sites/3...7/att00044.jpg

If my aerodynamics instructors had used examples like that I would have paid more attention in class !

Dick
otrcman is offline  
Old 12-22-2010, 08:37 AM
  #49  
rmh
Senior Member
 
rmh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: , UT
Posts: 12,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

wings-
If you got em -
flap em
rmh is offline  
Old 12-29-2010, 06:18 AM
  #50  
Tim Green
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Ashtabula, OH
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: my take on wings

My take on all of this - and it doesn't take a rocket scientist ...

Stand behind a prop when it's spinning. Or stand under a helicopter when it's taking off. You'll feel the force in the moving air, the force that ultimately moves that object, when you do that. Action/Reaction.

An airplane wing uses the same technology to move air that props and rotors use. But because an airplane wing doesn't keep rotating over the same spot, it's hard to feel the air that a wing moves downward when it's lifting.

But that air is being forced downward by the wing nevertheless, when a plane is flying.

Action and reaction.

Anything that forces air in one direction will push itself in the other direction. And it's patently obvious that airplane wings force lots and lots air in the direction opposite to the lift being created.

Here's where Bernoulli comes into play
[ul][*] A flat plate is at 0 angle of attack. Equal pressure on top and bottom of plate.[*] The plate's leading edge is raised a couple degrees.[*] An area of lower air pressure above the plate is created by this action. (Common sense dictates this)[*] This causes the air to move faster above the plate.[*] The air also has a quality that causes it to stick to the top of the plate.[*] So, the air moving over the top of the plate is increased in velocity by the vacuum.[*] And the air moving over the top of the plate is deflected downward by the angle of the plate.
[/ul]
Two important things happened when we tipped up the plate ...
1) The air was deflected downward.
2) The velocity of the air deflected downward was increased.

The result of the above is a lift vector.

Enjoy ...


Tim Green is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.