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Old 04-11-2006 | 12:24 AM
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Lomcevak Duck
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From: Enterprise, AL
Default RE: My next project

I am using Profili, so I can print out airfoils galore and use the true chord line for setting the incidence angles exactly. I love that program. I understand what you mean about flying tail low- I've seen that lots of times, just never really thought about why it happened.
TP: I considered using an undercambered airfoil, but after some consideration I decided to go with the Clark Y because it can be built on a flat surface without a jig, and I didn't want to mess with building a massive jig for 6' wing panels just for this one plane, but I may play with undercambered wings on later versions if all goes well with this one. I am hoping it wil come out very light. Keeping weight and wing loading down is the key to flying SLOW and taking off in its own length. I'll attach a wing loading chart below. One of my goals with the design was to make it easy enough for anyone with a kit under their belt to consruct, and I have found in the past that the simplest answer is usually the best answer. I did not design any dihedral in the wing because as the horizontal vectors increase, the vertical lift vectors decrease. I did design it with a very high wing so that gravity would help with roll stability. This plane will have split flaps and big barn door ailerons.

24 square feet of wing area goes a long way!

Weight in lbs Wing loading in oz/square foot

10 6.6
12 8
15 10
18 12
20 13.3
24 16
28 18.6
32 21.5

No way this plane will come out at 32 Lbs, just put that in there for reference. I am really shooting for 20 lbs or less. I don't know. I plan to pull it around with a spare O.S. 1.60 FX I have, so lighter would be great. These are some really intrigueing numbers.
-Steve