RCU Forums - View Single Post - Zero speed landing possible ?
View Single Post
Old 09-19-2008 | 01:18 PM
  #22  
CrateCruncher's Avatar
CrateCruncher
My Feedback: (1)
 
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 949
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From: Austin, TX
Default RE: Zero speed landing possible ?

When I saw this thread the first thing I thought of was the routine step-off landings that paraglider pilots perform. They do it by pulling the trailing edge of the parasol wing down in a drastic arm gesture, effectively slowing airspeed to zero and stalling the wing just as their toes touch the ground.

Since this is a brainstorming thread I would throw out that perhaps you could design a wing that pivots about an axis just before touchdown. The extreme AoA would scrub forward speed without the craft zooming in an ideal world. Actual results may vary........