I had this dream where I was flying a revolutionary new glider around my house, now that I'm awake, I'm going to try to design it. I need to know how to calculate the size that I should make the wings. Please help me out! Thanks. (10 points for best answer.)
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The wing is designed with several factors in mind:
Load to be supported
Speed it will fly
Glide slope intended.
Glider wings are very thin in profile (low resistance to flow of air), narrow in width (high aspect ratio, for the same reason), and quite long (to supply enough lift at lower speeds).
"The slenderness of a wing is expressed as the aspect ratio, which is calculated by dividing the square of the span of the wing by the area of the wing.
Glider wings have very high aspect ratios -- their span is very long compared to their width. This is because drag created during the production of lift (known as induced drag) can account for a significant portion of the total drag on a glider. One way to increase the efficiency of a wing is to increase its aspect ratio. Glider wings are very long and thin, which makes them efficient. They produce less drag for the amount of lift they generate."
Load to be supported
Speed it will fly
Glide slope intended.
Glider wings are very thin in profile (low resistance to flow of air), narrow in width (high aspect ratio, for the same reason), and quite long (to supply enough lift at lower speeds).
"The slenderness of a wing is expressed as the aspect ratio, which is calculated by dividing the square of the span of the wing by the area of the wing.
Glider wings have very high aspect ratios -- their span is very long compared to their width. This is because drag created during the production of lift (known as induced drag) can account for a significant portion of the total drag on a glider. One way to increase the efficiency of a wing is to increase its aspect ratio. Glider wings are very long and thin, which makes them efficient. They produce less drag for the amount of lift they generate."