also no matter how hard the engine appears to be "working"-- the stationary hover will require the same amount of "WORK" if the weight to be hovered is the same.
Again, I respectfully disagree.
While I can't dispute or disprove your "data" because I have neither the equipment or inclination I would like to address the topic from a perspective of, as you put it, "basic physics".
If I set the brake on my truck and drive up a hill the same "work" is done as done as when brakes are released except for the EXTRA work to overcome the DRAG of the brakes.
If I hover a model with a low (at zero airspeed) lift/drag x/12 prop then the engine does the same "work" as when using a more efficient (at zero airspeed) y/6 or even z/4 prop except for the work to overcome the extra DRAG of an x/12 prop operating way, way off the peak of it's l/d-vs- AOA curve.
We can go around and around on this topic and probably never convert each other to another point of view.
But I, for one, am grateful for the brain-teasing exchange. I wish I had the equipment and time to really test all of this under controlled lab conditions. Does anyone reading this have a connection to the Myth Busters TV show?
