Quote:
Originally posted by Norman
Flying wings built with little or no incidence are notorious for their inability to rotate for takeoff, especially if the thrust line is a little high. The Delt-air 250 tested fine in the wind tunnel but couldn't pull the nose off the ground under full power, even well beyond the minimum flying speed. When the pilot cut power the nose down moment disappeared and it jumped into the air. |
Yeah, that's a nasty thing, isn't it? Orion had mentioned about having the aircraft 'on the gear' at the takeoff attitude, so that you just 'fly off' when the airspeed is right.
It seems to me that if the main gear is carefully placed and you limit yourself to paved runways (smooth), then one might have enough elevator/elevon power to rotate for takeoff. If the pilot is forward, you can't keep the airplane from rocking back on the tailskid once the pilot is out of the plane, why not optimize the gear to allow a 'normal' rotation takeoff. I haven't run any numbers on that yet, though. Don't know if it's possible, or if it would put the gear so far forward that even a small bump on the runway would pitch the plane back prematurely.
Worth a trade study or two, I would think.