ORIGINAL: dick Hanson
Great! -So - I would guess you have tested designs using very low loadings at very low speeds ?
sound like a natural for "loitering " stuff.
and
Tunnels really don't show how wing loading enters in tho -does it ?
only angles of attack?
Tunnels give you information on drag, lift and pitching moment coefficient. It is not dimensional, so it is valid for any wingloading as long as the Reynolds numbers tested fit into the flight envelope of the actual vehicle.
As for what are actually built for micro UAV research using the data obtained from the tunnels - loadings differ, but the very low loadings are not very interesting since, as I explained in the first post, they have a very definate size limitation. As equipment gets smaller and lighter, instead of lowering the wing loading the tendency is usually to make the aircraft even smaller. Physical sizes for those that actually fly are typically between 12" and 6" wingspan, although they are always trying to get even smaller and I wouldn't be surprised if someone such as the guys from AeroVironment have actually flown something smaller than that.