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Old 12-31-2020, 11:00 AM
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Hydro Junkie
 
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I've seen some that used an asymmetrical stab with the larger arc on the bottom, actually pulling the tail down in flight. I always thought of that as a bandage for a nose heavy condition or a way to counter a low thrust line on a plane that had engines mounted either even with or below the center of the wing's leading edge in a low wing configuration. When you look at planes like the737, 747, 767, 777 and 787, all of them have the thrust below the plane, theoretically pushing the nose up. By using the asymmetrical stab and making adjustable in flight with a powered jackscrew, it countered some of that tendency, that is until the 737 MAX. It was so overpowered that the stab alone was unable to compensate so they added another system that wasn't thought out or tested well enough before releasing the plane for sale.
Now, getting back to the boats. If you look at the end of the wing of every boat equipped with one, all but the three I mentioned had a symmetrical airfoil. Even the two Budweiser boats went to a symmetrical wing in a short period of time, more due to weight and aerodynamic drag than anything else. If you look at this commercial, you can see the Budweiser T-1 test footage with the big wing and, right at the end, the symmetrical wing:
But when the season started, the T-1 was now sporting the wing between the tails while G-3 still had the wing on top of the tails:

Last edited by Hydro Junkie; 12-31-2020 at 07:10 PM.