No tacking for gliders. Go straight and if you are looking for a sailing analogy try to find some lift on your way upwind.
BTW, Some of the highest performance sailboats do have solid wings (with flaps and trim tabs, check out C-class Catamarans) but still need to tack upwind, afterall you need some forward component with all those force vectors. The biggest diff between the sailing and gliding analogy is the wind/water interface. Lifting foils under the surface opposing the forces on the sails with hopefully a net force driving the boat forward. -Tom --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "gavin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Salboats tack back and forth against the wind, because the sail needs to > fill with air, forming a lift generating airfoil with a forward componant > that pulls the boat forward. Gliders wings generate lift, with a forward > componant that moves it forward, except the wing is rotated 90 degrees, so > if anything you would want to tack up and down. Actually it does not really > work that way because we have to deal with gravity as well. Best bet is a > staight line > > Gavin > > > Here is a scenario for you experts.... > > > > You find yourself way down wind and way high up with an unballasted plane > > and gotta head back into a moderate head wind. You can head directly into > > the wind on a straight line back or you can tack back and forth like a > > sailboat against the wind. Time is not an issue. Which technique will > get > > you closer to home with minimal loss of altitude? > > > > (I'm going on the idea that everyone learns from experience, ideally the > > experience of others.) > > > > Cheers, > > > > Bill > > > > -- > > There's two theories to arguin' with a woman. Neither one works. Will > Rogers > > > > Bill Johns > > Pullman, WA > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and > "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
