Today, the best laminar flow wings for low Reynolds numbers are found on high
performance gliders. Up to 85% of the lower wing chord surface for example on
my Schleicher ASW-24 is in laminar flow. Turbulators are used to abruptly
change the flow to turbulent without creating laminar seperation bubbles.
Only sandwich-type wings built in very rigid molds can be made precise enough to
get these kinds of results. My question is how can the Europa wing claim a
decent laminar flow with a wing built on (more or less) precise styrofoam cores.
Why has Ivan not considered premolded wings and is that being planned at least
for the motorglider version?
Herbert Kilian, Raleigh, NC - USA
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