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Old 11-25-2012 | 07:11 PM
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Jetdesign
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Default RE: The Physics of Flying

Calculating if a wing will fly an airplane - that is a LOT of math, and even challenging (in 3D) with appropriate software. But any basic aerodynamics text will start you off on the right path. In short, you need to determine how much air is deflected at each cross-sectional plane of a wing, assuming some velocity, and add the planes together. I have taken a few classes on this and it's still difficult (mechanical background, not aero).

You can research "NACA Airfoils" and see if some standard information is posted regarding the most common airfoil shapes. Maybe you can find what you need and use scaling factors and multipliers.

It is a lot of fun to think about, and I wish I had more opportunity to do this at work (I'm trying, have one more shot at an aero position next year) as it is just time consuming to try to do in my free time.