ORIGINAL: iron eagel

By Bm
"There's no doubt that the power source is 95% of the equation on a speed model. The Extreme Speed Prop forum is full of models that fly very fast but do not have the best aerodynamics by any means. Brute power is obviously the cornerstone. But given two identical brute power sources what is needed to make one go a lot faster than the other? Now we come down to cleaning up the airframe so that the engine can spin a higher pitch prop and still unload enough to get up to the peak HP figure. And THAT is going to get us the extra speed."

That is what I was thinking...


Now given that most of us do not have access to the funds needed for turbines, my self included.
How do we take a glow/gas/electric powered airplane with a prop to the next level.
Some of the restrictions placed on pylon racers such as non tapered wings no fillets place severe limits on cleaning up the airframe.
I think that there some questions about different wing designs used for speed. In modern aircraft the swept wings and deltas of the 50's and 60's have been replaced by short stubby wings, at least for modern fighters. And concepts such as BWB are just now being explored in commercial and GA aircraft.
One would think that the BWB concept would lend itself to higher speeds where it could be setup to produce far less drag than the typical tube and wing designs now in use.
Another thought is regarding canards they seem to perfect for high speed flight but have never been mentioned as a possibility.
What I want is theoretical discussion on the subject, that perhaps some or all could be applied to building a aircraft that could exceed the present limitations, or allow someone to build a plane that may be a bit faster.

edit to add:
One comment in another thread regarding speed planes made by CP was, "Most of your speed plane designs look like model locomotives with wings". And they do indeed look much like the streamlined locomotives of the late 40's and 50's there has got to be a better way to build them...