If you could design a plane from scratch that was designed just for flying in the wind, what would you do, and why?

An airplane does not know it is in wind....only you know.....now turbulence is different.....for turbulence IMHO the heavier the better......
I do enjoy flying a trainer in turbulence...love it while on approach......

If you could design a plane from scratch that was designed just for flying WHEN IT IS WINDY OUTSIDE, what would you do, and why? <span class="info"><a style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);" href="../../../m_9834702/tm.htm#ixzz0sIXT3YPN">
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Make it large. Make it with 1.5 to 1 power to weight. I like an 80 inch profile such as OMP Edge. I've also had an old Morris Hobbies Giant Su-Do-Khoi (another 80 inch profile). I run a Moki 2.10 2-cycle glow engine on this class of plane. About 12 pounds all up weight.

Symmetrical or semi-symmertrical wing. 23 or 24 oz wing loading. Plenty of engine. Wide forward landing gear stance; tail dragger. Non "3-D" rudder (just normal instead of enormous). No dihedral if shoulder or mid-wing. Maybe 2º if low wing.

Hmmm. I just described a Giant Super Sporster.

More wing loading if large. Low wing (for ground handling). Lots of power. Extra underwear.

Bedford

Make it heavy and fast.

Mass is moved less by gusts, and airplanes absolutely are moved about by gusts. They don't feel the steady winds, but absolutely do feel gusts. Ever read about the crashes caused by turbulence and micro-bursts. That's the result of an airplane responding to "wind". And while you're adding mass, don't add volume because it gives gusts something to grab onto.

Are we talking about wing loading here? No, were're talking about density. Yes, wing loading is a form of density and applies somewhat, but the issue of response to gusting winds is multi-directional, and wing AREA is only important in the vertical direction.

What else?
Speed.
Make your wind plane fast.
The faster it flies, the less a 5mph gust will affect it. The better it can accelerate, the better it can respond to gust displacement and important too: it can make it back to the field in a high steady wind no matter what it can do against the gusts.

So what are we coming up with?
A model that's going to be harder to fly safely in good conditions.
It's going to be fast and heavy.
But it'll be better in gusty conditions. But then your skills need to be "better" for flying in gusty conditions so harder to fly in calm isn't exactly unacceptable. You gotta be able to do the flying if you want to do the flying.

I love to use my SPAD planes when the wind is horrible. The landing gear can probably survive a 10 foot drop. The occasional roll over usually does not harm my SPADS.

Hmm, first we need to define "wind". Here in deep south Texas, 10-15mph is considered a breeze, 15-25mph a fresh breeze and anything higher is wind.

Considering that we seldom have foamy flying conditions you either learn to fly in the wind or quit trying.

My personal experience is that my light wing loading Comp-ARF Extra handles conditions better than the smaller &amp; heavier planes. Yes, the light aircraft is moved easily by gusts, but recovery is quicker because of lesser wing loading and inertia.

An example of a very good sport flyer in windy/gusty conditions is the H9 60-size Ultra Stick. These are set up with the quad wing control surfaces and mixing is used. 6' diameter loops? Easy. Spot landings in gusty wind? Easy.

One thing is a given - either you become proficient at flying, quickly, or you become good at replacing or repairing aircraft when flying in windy conditions.

Bliksem

jetmech05's advice is excellent, no reason for spinning eyes.

He means that the model will behave the same if the wind is steady, but not if it is gusty.
Your eyes will see it drift or slow down in one direction, but the thing is flying as always respect to the air; nothing to worry about.

Gusts create suddenly forces coming from any direction.
Suddenly forces create accelerations (F=ma), which you see as movements (rolls, pitches and yaws around the CG) in undesired directions.
The bigger the mass, the smaller the acceleration and movement for the same intensity of gust.
The better the aerodynamic of the plane (low drag), the less the force that the same gust will create (the gust of air needs to "grab" the model to shake it; hence, the sleeker the less sensible).

Same reasoning applies for big surfaces far away from the CG; hence, less wing span and tail lenght is better (more compact geometry).

A 10 lb / 24 oz-sqft draggy biplane will handle gusty winds worst than a 10 lb / 24 oz-sqft aerodynamically clean racer.

Beefy landing gear would be a good design criteria, since landings can be rought due to turbulence close to the ground.

Regards!

Design a heavy Ugly Stik with a foam wing.

Minn Flyer wins. Ugly Stick would be my choice too.
Just my opinion.
Edwin

We have a lot of folks around here that really like a plane called a "Hooker" for windy day flying. It is more or less a Stick with a swept wing. The .90 size seem to be the favorite.

Scooter is in Vegas and our normal weather report will state 5-15 mph, this is normal. We get everything from dead calm to 60+ mph and it can all happen on the same day. Even on low wind days we get a lot of gusting and thermals. To design your own?? Why bother when it has been done for you and you can just buy the plans. My number one plane for our heavy wind days is/was the Kaos. I had them in both 60 size and the 80 inch. Neither one ever had a problem with our weather. Last year I built the Daddy Rabbit from plans. It was a class-C pattern plane in 1966 and the designer designed it just for an all weather plane because he had to travel around the country to compete. The plane won a national and a big pile of other events so it must have worked as planed. Mine is really stable in the wind. The other question is what do you want to do with a plane in the wind?? I enjoy flying the big Telemasters but that's just me, any of the bid high wing planes are fun in the wind. Weight seems to be a big factor, a heavy wing loading seems to be better in the wind then these light ARFs most the guys are flying and I tend to over power my planes just a little. Sometimes more then just a little but that has bit me in the butt once, my bad!!! I have taught students to fly in 20mph winds just so they know a trainer can do it. It's more a pilot problem with a mind set that keeps them grounded. After about 20 it tends to not be a lot of fun though but that depends on the plane. My 60 size Kaos has flown in some of our local heavy winds and other then the added power to fly into it the plane didn't know anything was different.

If you are looking for a large 'stick' type plane, you might try these guys - AMR - American Modelers Research http://www.amr-rc.com. They have stick type kits with wingspas from 105" to 144" that require gas engines. This might be just what you're looking for.

Had some experience with good windy day plane designs. My first choice would be, just about any of the "Simitar" designs from Bill Evans. ( you can find his designs all over on the web and rc magazines). In some of his articles in RCM he would mention how great they were in the wind. I built the Polestar, what a great plane. They are a flying wing design, with a full length fuselage and Rudder. With no horizontal stab the plane doesn't tend to buffet in the wind. Second choice is a "Spad" from "spadtothebone" website. They are heavy! We've been racing the "Spadstick"in 20-30mph winds and having a blast with a magnum .52

Simitar is like a combat foam wing:

http://www.rcmplans.com/index.php?ma...ord=bill+evans

The Balsa USA 90 size Taube is not affected by the wind in the air or on the ground. Whenever the wind is blowing all the other planes around on the ground, my Taube just rocks. If the wind is moving it, all other planes need to be put up or held down, that includes the IMAC planes. The wind just never affects it.

My favorite windy day plane is the Delta Vortex.

The Hooker is a good windy day plane. My favorite was a Ultra Sport 60. I flew it on days I would not unload anything else. It was also the first plane I drug the rudder through the grass on. It was so stable (the faster the better) it just did not bob around in the wind like a lighter plane with a thicker airfoil would. Some other good designs for wind: GP Patriot, Sig Cougar. There are a few others I just can't call the name on.

david

Notice something about the planes that're suggested as good windy flyers?

They don't have lots of fuselage area. What happens when you have big fuselages? They've got empty space inside. That makes 'em lighter, less dense.

The good ones are dense, with less for the gusts to push around. And dense planes need speed to keep 'em in the air, wind or calm. They also are fast inherently because they have less drag.

I agree with your idea of less fuselage area, da Rock. However, my Taube is definately NOT a fast airplane. It might do 45 downwind! There is very little side area on the fuselage which keeps it from being bothered by the wind, both in the air and on the ground. However, it has a lot of wing area (Hint-empty space=less dense.) Any good light plane will fly better than the same plane that weighs more, even in the wind. If you don't believe me, let me put an anvil on your plane and let's see how much better it flies in the wind.

Well I gotta buck the system a bit because I fly -when it is a bit too windy for my other stuff 15 to 20 mph wind . I fly a hundred mile per hour STRYKER because it is light fast and cheap it will really rock with the wind and I just cruise on the upwind leg . This is also good conditions for any type of flying wing with way too much power . Actually in wind that isn't just rediculous all u need is two times the power to weight ratio.. just my tried and tested opinion

This is my first choice for those big wind days when the mood strikes me. I won't speculate why it handles winds so well other than it does better than anything else I have ever flown My second choice is (in agreement with Graybeard) and old pattern type Bridi Sunfly 111

John

The old "Ballistic Pattern" ships handled the wind easily...you might check out the Classic Pattern forum for some ideas...