ORIGINAL: kennydee
Why must answers always be in "absolutes". Winglets do not belong on aerobatic models? That is a strong statement and not very helpful. I would be very suprised if my winglets interfere with my style of flying. Thanks for the photo Mr. Hanson. That is sort of what I had in mind, except my winglet would only extend above the wing, not below. I'm not looking for a side-force generator but just a little help in wing loading and tip stalling. I had this same plane a few years ago with a Zenoah Mag. G26 on it and it flew OK. I knew to keep the speed up in turns and landing but the plane was a pretty good flier (basic aerobatics and flying the pattern). This Cap should be 1 to 2 pounds lighter than that plane, so I don't think the wing loading will be excessive, just a little high.
Kennydee,
Be careful putting on winglets only to the top....make sure they are vertical. Hanson shows the lets symmetrical about the wing's center for a reason. If you install top only winglets at an angle, you will probably get some unwanted roll coupling.
On the other hand, if the model has any roll couple tendencies now, you can angle the winglets the right way and take the roll coupling out. Since you want to play with winglets, why not do the experiment?
Done properly, vertical surfaces on wings definitely DO belong on aerobats for aerodynamic reasons other than wing efficiency
BTW, who came up with the term SFG? It's mostly a misnomer...vertical surfaces on wings don't create side forces (unles the model flies knife edge all the time) but rather they serve as pivots for other forces to act upon
MattK