longtimelurker
Member
I went to the Beechcraft Heritage Museum at Tullahoma TN recently (much recommended). They have a "cut-away" Staggerwing without any skin there... and I took the following picture of the intersection of the lift wires with the strut at the top spar (unfortunately the uploaded image is on its side). Notice that because the intersection between strut line and wire line is at the middle of the spar, there is a space between wire and strut at the lower surface of the wing. Presumably this will result in reduced interference drag between the strut and wire -- or will it? There is still interference drag between strut and wing, and between the wire and wing. How far does the wire have to be from the strut before you get a benefit from the offset (if any)?