ORIGINAL: Mitek
Just wondering
I once saw an equation in MA that lists stall speed as a function of wing loading (among other things), But nowhere in that equation did wingspan have an effect on lift. I have also read that lift is not influenced by chord, but much more by wingspan, being a result of vortices. I have read that the bigger the wingspan. The more lift is generated I think (I might be wrong) That as lift gets larger, then stall speed decreases. Then how come the equation for stall speed does not have wingspan incorporated into it. If the equation is true, wouldn't the most aerodynamic airplane (Apart from turning very badly)have a very narrow wingspan and a big chord. There would a low stall speed from the wing area, but small frontal area. And what about flat bottom airfoils? The way I have read it is that the flat bottom is a built-in angle of attack. Doesn't that influence the stall speed somehow?
Unfortunately I'm still pretty uneducated in aerodynamics(I plan to be an aircraft engineer some day), so I beg for layman's terms
Thanks
Mitek,
As someone pointed out, when you consider the effect of span for a fixed area, you are considering the effect of aspect ratio. The equation you refer to derives stall speed from coefficient of lift, and the maximum coefficient of lift is not strongly affected by aspect ratio, except when the aspect ratio has an extremely large or small value. Overall, the equation you saw is correct not to include aspect ratio, as it does not have a primary effect.
banktoturn