StarJar
Well-Known Member
Hi,
After following a meandering path, it seemed to me that a sizable strake on a wing could improve both ends of the performance envelope (low stall/high cruise), on a basically standard tractor, tail-in-the-back configuration.
My daydreams revolve around a two seat vw powered plane, without flaps.
I came to the conclusion that they are not used for a few reasons
1. The stall may occur first on the outboard part of the wing, making them dangerous.
2. There isn't room for them in front of the wing, because the fuselage starts sloping away (up to the prop).
#2 could be solved if it was a mid wing airplane. Of course getting in and out might be more of a b***ch, but you can't everything.
As for #1, couldn't you use an airfoil, with a sharp leading edge, that would give you a leading edge stall, dependably, thus lowering the nose quickly and protecting the rest of the wing? (after all the testing, and correct geometries were found).
The attractive part to me also involves the fact that you get the "lifting body" effect from the fuselage, that, you could say, is wasted otherwise. This would counter the long dimension of interferance drag, at least.
Less weight, less drag, low stall speed. That's basically what I'm looking for (of course aren't we all?).
I wonder if an airfoil could be created, specifically, to have a dependable leading edge stall angle?..?..?
I turn the keypad over to you guys (and gal).
Thanks for any thoughts on any aspect of this.
After following a meandering path, it seemed to me that a sizable strake on a wing could improve both ends of the performance envelope (low stall/high cruise), on a basically standard tractor, tail-in-the-back configuration.
My daydreams revolve around a two seat vw powered plane, without flaps.
I came to the conclusion that they are not used for a few reasons
1. The stall may occur first on the outboard part of the wing, making them dangerous.
2. There isn't room for them in front of the wing, because the fuselage starts sloping away (up to the prop).
#2 could be solved if it was a mid wing airplane. Of course getting in and out might be more of a b***ch, but you can't everything.
As for #1, couldn't you use an airfoil, with a sharp leading edge, that would give you a leading edge stall, dependably, thus lowering the nose quickly and protecting the rest of the wing? (after all the testing, and correct geometries were found).
The attractive part to me also involves the fact that you get the "lifting body" effect from the fuselage, that, you could say, is wasted otherwise. This would counter the long dimension of interferance drag, at least.
Less weight, less drag, low stall speed. That's basically what I'm looking for (of course aren't we all?).
I wonder if an airfoil could be created, specifically, to have a dependable leading edge stall angle?..?..?
I turn the keypad over to you guys (and gal).
Thanks for any thoughts on any aspect of this.
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