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Old 01-11-2013, 06:52 PM
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eddieC
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Default RE: do ailerons provide lift?

Eddie, I'd still like to see proof where ailerons provide lift that don't follow the wings airfoil and of equal wing chord. 

I'm no aerodynamicist, Gary, but I do know ailerons are figured into total wing area, both full-size and models. Do you think all lift ends at the wing trailing edge? That won't fly, will it?

We've presented the 'Stick and Rudder' book. I'll turn the question around: prove that ailerons aren't producing lift. Use Google, Wiki, library, etc. Does it seem counter-intuitive to you? If so, I understand. Sometimes some principles seem like that. The theory of lift, Bernoulli's principle, things like that can seem odd. I teach my students it's a combination of Bernoulli (air going over the top of the wing goes faster, reducing pressure, so the wings lifts), and angle-of-attack (wing is pitched up, air is deflected down, equal & opposite reaction like 'flying' your hand out of a car window). Thats also how foamies with flat wings fly with no airfoil, angle of attack, very little Bernoulli. 

Do the ailerons provide the same lift in a turn? I'd be guessing to say 'yes', because they're opposing each other; one creates lift (the downward aileron), and the other kills lift (though not as much as you might think). Some gliders can 'reflex' their ailerons, both go up a little. This can make them more efficient, help them go faster depending on weight & CG, etc. I have an Ultra Stick 40 with flaperons that can go up or down, the ailerons and flaps move in the same direction using a dial on my tx. Aileron stick still works normal. 

Here's something else: the ailerons are used only at the beginning and end of a turn, not during except for minor adjustments. Once the turn is initiated and bank angle is reached, they should go back to neutral. No plane is perfect tho; some like a little aileron held in the turn, but many like a bit of opposite aileron during the turn. A thing called 'over-banking tendency'. 

If you want to believe ailerons don't provide lift, you're flying in the face of a lot of teachings of a lot of guys with a lot of letters after their names. [8D]