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thickness percentage for composite

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handprop

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
156
Location
wisconsin
I looked in the archives for this but don't seem to find much on this topic.

The original Tipsy Nipper wings were made of typical wood and fabric construction and the main spar was a massive laminated heavy built up type identical the the Corby Starlet and th "One Design".

For my version I would like to use composite construction. I have a complete set of plans for a Rutan LongEz and the wing construction he used is something I am considering for my hershey bar wings. The question I have is thickness %.

Looking at lift and drag charts I really aught to figure out the thickness I should be shooting for before delving into airfoil selection. Using some quick math it seems on composite wings 15-18% thick can really make out for a heck of a strong wing. Using Rutans solid wing construction is there any rule of thumb as to a ballpark minimum thickness.

The wing size is yet to be decided but it seems the span will be about 18-20' long with about a 54" cord. Estimated gross weight will be around 700 lbs. Cruise I figure would be about 120-130mph. I'm not looking for someone to figure it out for me because that's half the fun but I seem to be having trouble finding information as to what would make for a real strong wing using this method. Based on charts, 15-18% thick on some airfoils seems to offer just a slight increase in drag.

I plan on building a wing then testing until total failure. Hopefully on a youtube video.
Mike
 
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