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Old 01-24-2008, 12:05 PM
  #17  
banktoturn
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Default RE: How will it fly, what should I expect?


Dave,

I would expect that the airfoil shape of the fuselage would give you some yaw, which would need to be offset by rudder trim, and would increase drag. The asymmetric horizontal stabilizer would have the same effect, but the two might partially cancel if you're lucky.

I don't know how much benefit there is to generating knife-edge lift with the fuselage. When a plane turns tight, the needed lift is generated by the wing, since the bank angle is less than 90 degrees. Generally, your wing is the most efficient lift generator on the plane, so it might be best to avoid trying to make any other surface generate more lift.

If you're willing to incorporate some assymmetry to improve performance, I would consider leaving the horizontal stabilizer centered, but put the vertical stabilizer on one end, with a nicely radiused junction. This would eliminate a few junctions, and reduce 'interference' drag. If it's structurally feasible, instead of having the fuselage continue behind the horizontal stabilizer, have it taper down to almost nothing, so that a clean horizontal stabilizer, with the asymmetric fin on one end, is the rearmost part of the plane. This would eliminate the right-angle junctions between the horizontal stabilizer and that section of the fuselage, also reducing interference drag.

It looks cool. It's good to see someone trying new stuff.

banktoturn