Hi,

Has anyone experimented with these so called side-force generators? They are vertical wings placed so that their aerodynamic centre is coincident with the longitudinal centre of gravity position. The idea behind them is to provide more lateral 'lift' when the rudder is deflected and is primarily used to improve knife edge performance.

They are placed at the CG so as not to affect the direction stability of the aircraft - i.e they produce a force, not a moment.

Anyway, I'm considering experimenting myself but was wondering if anyone could recommend a procedure for obtaining an appropriate surface area. A rule of thumb even! I know a number of shock flyer indoor type aircraft have had them (tensor shown below for example) but i'm intending to use them on a 50 sized aerobatic aircraft.

thanks m