ORIGINAL: dick Hanson
Unless you peruse the extreme /absurd.-or "out of the box" -how do you determine the real limits?
Example - a zero weight airframe -
I did not say it would float - like a blimp - just zero weight.
So -assume such an airframe -- now apply all of the well documented rules about airflow /airfoils etc.
DO THESE STILL APPLY?
Maybe- but they are far less important.
Have you tried the super light, high powered , flat foam aerobats?
These things will make you wonder why we ever bothered with some "rules"
Throw a pail?
That ain't flying- not even good ballistics.
My point was/is -that the hard and fast rules really are NOT hard and fast rules - just guidelines.
Example - we were once discussing wing construction.
One person commented on their own rules for good wing design and noted he had never had a wing fail.
My view was that -if this is the case - how did he know the real limits of his design?
Personally- I have broken and damaged a number of them - from air loads and vibration.
Each was looked at at part of learning the real limits.
Zero wieght airframe? Would you please describe your idea of one. Because what I have in mind would require lift from a source lighter than air, as the propulsion system would have wieght. If you are getting your lift from that source, then an airfoil is not required and typical design would not follow. So you are making a mute point.
(Blimps are zero wieght)
Who says a garbage pail wouldn't fly? You? Then you are going against your own steppin out theories. If I put a 400 hp engine on it, and big enough control surfaces, I probably could make it "fly"
The hard fast rules, are just that, hard fast rules to make any design work "better". Notice I said "better", not "at all"
Your foamies are designed to a certain thing, fly crazy. If you wanted them to fly across the English channel, then you find yourself going back to the hard fast rules to make it fly more effeciently, and further on a charge.
Put a cargo in your foamie, find its maximum cargo. I'm sure it would carry more if we used the hard fast rules.
Can you explain technically which hard fast rules you broke to make a plane fly better?