Without having experience to guide me I am wondering about how important wetted area and fineness ratio are in the overall picture as it relates the the speed of an airplane. From a plumbers perspective it seems that on a real fast airplane these two matter a lot more than on an airplane that has a cruise considerably less.
Before I sat down and drafted out the second version of my airplane I searched around on the internet and began reading about these two factors and what role they play in aircraft design. It seems to me the general shape of an airplane must have an ideal shape ( all things considered ), and the shape I drew in the photos must be close. Am I thinking straight here?
Now, as I began to look at some of the high performance composite airplanes out there it seems like most of them have skinny tail sections. The question I have on this is doesn't that have a negative component as it concerns fineness ratio, but at the same time have a positive component as it concerns total wetted area.
I hope I explained it right. From a total novice perspective, If I want my airplane that I'm working on to have a cruise of 120 mph and say a low horsepower motor, should I spend more time thinking about fineness ratio or total wetness area, or both? I'm just trying to get a handle on these two and what role they play on airplanes of different speed. Mike J
Before I sat down and drafted out the second version of my airplane I searched around on the internet and began reading about these two factors and what role they play in aircraft design. It seems to me the general shape of an airplane must have an ideal shape ( all things considered ), and the shape I drew in the photos must be close. Am I thinking straight here?
Now, as I began to look at some of the high performance composite airplanes out there it seems like most of them have skinny tail sections. The question I have on this is doesn't that have a negative component as it concerns fineness ratio, but at the same time have a positive component as it concerns total wetted area.
I hope I explained it right. From a total novice perspective, If I want my airplane that I'm working on to have a cruise of 120 mph and say a low horsepower motor, should I spend more time thinking about fineness ratio or total wetness area, or both? I'm just trying to get a handle on these two and what role they play on airplanes of different speed. Mike J
