Thank you all for your responses.

mboland:

Everything you said about viewing wing loading as flying speed necessary to maintain flight makes sense. So I'm assuming an aircraft's speed must affect its lift. It must. Right?

So if your airplane has greater wing loading than it will need more power for slower flight than a plane with less wing loading? Is that what you're saying?

And also, with these fully symmetrical wings that are commonly used on 3D/Aerobatic models, the wings don't produce lift in level flight. Bernoulli's principle describes how a faster moving fluid over the wing relative to under the wing will cause a change in lift, BUT there is no change in speed of the fluids at level flight as the distance from the leading edge to trailing edge is the same. So, in order to produce lift with a fully symmetrical wing at level, slow flight is to orient the plane upwards which in turn would change the velocities of the moving fluids and then a change in lift. (I think everything I have said is at least semi-correct ) So my secondary question is: since we must adjust the wing attitude in slow flight to generate lift and prevent a stall, how come we don't have to do something similar in fast, level flight? I have noticed when I "punch" the throttle, the plane will maintain altitude. Why wouldn't the plane be falling as it's not producing any lift to counter its weight?

Wow, there was a lot there. I got a little sidetracked and went on a tangent. I suppose one question led to another.

highhorse:

Everything you said about "absorbed" power and buying only what's necessary makes total sense. However, could you go in more detail about the trade-off you were speaking of?

When you talk about the trade-off of power vs. weight (i.e. 30% more power for 5% more weight), would you calculate that with difference in horsepower (a percentage, not actual horses) vs. difference weight (again a percentage), and then try compare them?

Rodney:

I'm not quite sure what you mean with wing loading affecting airplanes differently from plane to plane, like a 1/4 IMAC plane to 1/2A. I thought wing loading was supposed to be a generalized statement about the loading on the wing. So, wouldn't a wing loading of a 15 oz/ft^2, for instance, affect the 1/4 IMAC plane the same as the 1/2A? If you could develop on this that would helpful.


Thank you all for your help,
-Matt