> One thing that was pointed out to me by Kim Prout's father (an
> aerodynamicist of some repute) is that the wing root fairings MUST be
> airtight in order to gain maximum efficiency of airflow. An inefficient
seal
> here can lose several knots of cruise speed.
Tony --
Excellent observation. Something to fool with in flight testing, maybe.
Here, you need forty hours of it, in the local area, and for me that's miles
and miles of Amish farms to either stare at or do something productive.
Interesting also is the Aug. '97 issue of EAA Sport Aviation, where they show
computer-generated pressure distributions on a mid-wing race plane
(color-shaded aircraft images). At the wing root, there's a large pressure
drop, with roughly equal pressures top and bottom at the junction. It's
based on computer assumptions, and in reality there's probably turbulence
there anyway (per Europa, radius the fairings to "just a pleasing shape" -- a
NASA Langley tech paper I found doesn't quite agree). The potential effect
of aileron and flap gaps is obvious, though, and I'll bet sealing those would
sure be noticeable. Another item to test!
Regards,
Fred Fillinger, A063
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