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Old 06-24-2008 | 07:49 PM
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BMatthews
 
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From: Chilliwack, BC, CANADA
Default RE: Vortex Generators

You keep saying vortex generators rather than turbulation devices. The little angled tab VG's seen on a lot of full sized aircraft. However by now you should know that not everything used on the big stuff scales down well to our sizes.

Will adding turbulation work to reduce tip stalling? In many cases yes in some cases no. What sort should you use? It depends on the airfoil and model's size. I've had excellent results using a double and triple thickness of automobile pin striping tape to produce a 1/8 wide by 2 or 3 layer thick trip strip on two of my past gliders.

Will those angled tabs work for the model you're trying to modify? Only testing will tell. The size of the tabs, spacing between them and chord wise location all will require testing and modification. Just adding turbulators is not a sudden gaurantee of delaying tip stalling. But it's likely safe to say that trying a strip turbulator is a lot less work and makes it much easier to modify the chordwise location. To try it for reducing a tendency to tip stall you should only use the trip strips out on the outer third of the wing. And I'd suggest starting with the location of the strip at 15% chord. And to ensure they are thick enough to do the job go for three layers of the stripping tape. Auto body paint stores have 1/8 wide masking tape that could be used 3 to 4 layers thick as an excellent test.