Hello.

Does an AD Rafale consider a flying brick with the wing loading of 64oz per sq/ft? This number came from some of the calculator
online i used. Also, when measure the wing chords on these deltas, does the measurements includes the trailing edge of the elevons, or just
up to the point where the elevons attaches to the wing with hinges? Thank you.

When figuring wing area you figure all the area. Even theoretical area.(Which is the area in the fuse) For example on the B-58 wing the area is 2868.51 / 144= 19.92 sq ft. If the plane weighs 55# x 16oz = 880oz / 19.92 sq ft = 44.17 oz wing loading. Hope I didn't confuse you with this. 64oz wing loading is fairly light on a jet.Butch

I am confused now sir. Not by any means you, but i am just generally confused about it. My AD Rafale came out at 26.5 lbs dry,
I am just getting ready and arming myself with as much info about it as i could. Hopefully, before i may find out it is a flying brick. LOL

Don't get too hung up on wing loading... Wing loading doesn't have the same significance in jets, as in say, a warbird. We fly our landing approaches nose-high and power on. High wing loading means a higher stall speed which we compensate for by a higher approach speed, and hopefully, a longer runway....


I had a F-104 with a wing loading of over 100oz per SQFT. Approach speed was around 50mph..

A Rafal should land pretty slow if you keep the nose up and the power on until touch-down.

F-104, now that's a brick. Just kiddin. Thank you for the info. The more the better right.

You'll be fine, if you calculated your wing loading at 64oz and you ONLY included the wing that will be light on a Rafale, the Rafale has a very large lifting moment in the fuse as well. I assume your AD Rafale is the large one, 26.5 lbs for the small one would be very very heavy, but for the large one that is reasonably light actually.

It is the larger 1/6.8 version. Had tried my best to keep the weight down. The calculator software online i used didn't even included the area of the
elevons at all. I only measured from the LE to the part where the hinges are. I didn't know if the elevons should be included or not. I also tried to include
the elevons, and the numbers came out to about 47.8 oz/sqft. Please excuse all the funny questions. Its my first jet after all. LOL

I think you also missed the fact that today's fighter jets will not only have any lifting wings but also lifting fuselages. The F-16 is one of them and believe that the Rafale also has that additional benefit.

Reuben

Jet models have a very high wing loading compared to standard prop models, about 3 times more! [X(][X(][X(]
That's why is so important to choose a very efficient airfoil, as Eric Rantet of AD does on all of his models.
Other producers don't take care of this problem, and choose to enlarge the original airfoil: the result is an airplane with high wing loading and low efficiency profile, meaning a higher stall speed and a low glide ratio.

Here is a video that shows an AD Rafale landing:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-aPDjlLqb4[/youtube]

I think the big AD Rafale is similar in size to the BVM Rafale. In fact, some guys even use the BV landing gear in the AD. My BV Rafale is close to 35lbs dry and it flys just fine. However, as with any "heavy metal" jets, it flys with power. You should be fine at 26.5lbs.

Craig

The canards are also lifting area on the Rafale or any canard. But you are worrying about nothing. The AD Rafale flies very well indeed in both sizes. They also land very slowly.