Some background, I've been looking at building for a while but never got started. Then I got an idea for an airplane and I've been toying around with it on paper. I think where I'm at is I know just enough to have a clue, but not enough to do a whole lot about it. So I could use some guidance.
I'm a sailor, and have sailed professionally for several years. As I've seen racers put expensive wing-like airfoils on boats (much more efficient) I had the thought that maybe I could put sails on airplanes (maybe much less expensive/challenging to build, but more importantly I'm rather interested in the idea). So I've been toying around with it a little on paper and figured that maybe if I put two sails with very similar controls to those on a boat on a fuselage I could have a reasonably decent wing. For controls I was thinking that the angle of attack could be adjusted together or separately to help it with landing and takeoff, and for rolling. The shape of the airfoil could be controlled with what's called a Cunningham, which basically adds or reduces tension in the forward portion of the sail to move the point of maximum draft fore and aft. Then an outhaul, which pulls back on the sail can increase or decrease the draft.
I've been kind of fumbling my way through figuring out if this will work or not, plugging very generic numbers from sailboat sails into the lift equation. I tried using xflr5 to figure out if it might work, and the program basically confirmed for me that I don't know what I'm doing. I can't make the program work.
So, my basic question is can you help point me in the right direction to figure this out? Also, any input, advice, thoughts, etc from people who, unlike me, actually know what they're doing?
I'm a sailor, and have sailed professionally for several years. As I've seen racers put expensive wing-like airfoils on boats (much more efficient) I had the thought that maybe I could put sails on airplanes (maybe much less expensive/challenging to build, but more importantly I'm rather interested in the idea). So I've been toying around with it a little on paper and figured that maybe if I put two sails with very similar controls to those on a boat on a fuselage I could have a reasonably decent wing. For controls I was thinking that the angle of attack could be adjusted together or separately to help it with landing and takeoff, and for rolling. The shape of the airfoil could be controlled with what's called a Cunningham, which basically adds or reduces tension in the forward portion of the sail to move the point of maximum draft fore and aft. Then an outhaul, which pulls back on the sail can increase or decrease the draft.
I've been kind of fumbling my way through figuring out if this will work or not, plugging very generic numbers from sailboat sails into the lift equation. I tried using xflr5 to figure out if it might work, and the program basically confirmed for me that I don't know what I'm doing. I can't make the program work.
So, my basic question is can you help point me in the right direction to figure this out? Also, any input, advice, thoughts, etc from people who, unlike me, actually know what they're doing?
