RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: airfoils

[Alec Smyth <Asmyth@changepoint.com>]

Nero,

My configuration calls for 2 "wings" amidships, and I can see how this
applies to those. But I have another 2 control surfaces on the stern. Its a
V-tail, and the stern surfaces are angled at 45 degrees. I suspect the
winglets would not be desirable on those, and in fact can't think of any
airplanes that have winglets on the tail surfaces.

Is that right?

thanks,

-Alec



-----Original Message-----
From: Nero Wolfe [mailto:wolfe19@megsinet.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 11:32 PM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: airfoils


The side plates prevent some 90% of the losses due to tip vortexes.  

To give you some idea of the effectiveness and the power of these vortexes.
When they started installing "winglets" (end plates)  On the tips of 747
wings, their fuel efficancy went up by 10%.  A common plane without
winglets, the 737 has tip vortexes so strong you can't fly a leerjet behind
it any closer than several miles.  If you have seen the movie pushing tin,
the wind that blows the stars around the runway is the wingtip vortexes, not
the jet exhaust, or even the air displaced by the plane.  

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/6/01 at 12:27 PM VBra676539@aol.com wrote:

>Alec,
>
>Thanks, I'll try it out at work, where we have a sheet metal shop and 
>journeymen who've been there, done that. I still have to get the shaft 
>married to the plane, but there's got to be a way. I'll skip the oil unless
I 
>get into weight problems. Ours just had weep holes top and bottom, flooded 
>for diving and drained on your tennis shoes afterwards. Never a problem. If

>you do this again, try the side plates. Just sort of radiused up front and 
>rectangular with radiused corners at the trailing edge, maybe 4 inches
high. 
>The engineers told us that the side plates were as important as the airfoil

>shape.
>
>Vance