2009-03-08

What a drag ! : )

I read that originally VmaxProbe was intented to fly with 0.31 sq ft drag . Later drag rose to 0.45 sq ft still the lowest drag ever recorded in an propelled aeroplane ( in fact in any manned aircraft ) when plane had no retracts.

I wonder how the 0.31 was obtained ?

Ok I assume short laminar wing with very little wing area and NACA studied fuselage.

I did my calculations based on AR-5 calculation of B. Carmichael and I got 0.339 for my AC and if lucky in foil selection then 0.318 ( due to overall smaller size [ weight also ] of the plane and use of retracts ). I assume pilot would have to lie down in prone position to go under 0.300 in drag ?

In theory it could be..here is my prone position flown lifting body twin pusher fan ( drag 0.277 sq ft when some interference added):


This drag of going under .280 is interesting if you check nomograph in my earlier topic ( calculations in Bruce Carmichael style ) you see that I could get 170 mph speed with just 5 hp and 275 mph with 50 hp ( possibly 300 mph when enhanced ). That is why I say here again as I said before...never to build this small lifting body plane...it has very difficult bale out changes ! This is just an example of what can be done with lifting body ( in bigger scale ). This could be propelled with two inline 2 cylinder 2-stroke 20 hp APT engines. Plane woud have ram-air cooling and retracts ( taildagger ). This would require extensive windtunnel testing to find the proper size and form for the fuse and wing.

The extremely low drag coefficient is reached with a laminar flow: http://www.aviation-history.com/theory/lam-flow.htm ( Bruce Carmichael used coefficient 0.0029 for the fuse of AR-5 )

4 comments:

  1. This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
    March , 2009 4:11 AM

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  2. Hah no it wasn't you posted that ridiculous post like that...new way to troll I see. Not very amusing.

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  3. I site here my great of inspiration architect LeCorbusier who said:

    1. Great architect must also be a great engineer ( he himself wasn't either but an artist ).

    2. Let us shut eyes from anything that existed hitherto..and look at the flying machine...and look for those elevating forces and means of propulsion.


    He was a great visionary and renewed the architecture permanently ( not everyone was satisfied, but still made an impact as the avantgarde leader of the functionalists ). I suggest to take everything he said with a salt of grain...and remember that retro is back !

    First axial thrust pusher is from 1910s by Edson Fessenden Gallaudet. He found an excellent way for propulsion.

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  4. Mr. E.F. Gallaudet also discovered the aileron control that Wright bros used for their 1903 Flyer that made them so famous.

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