Just as with any quest for a design that answers certain parameters, you shake out the ones that do not quite make it. From airliners to sailplanes to fighters, in any class of service, as designs refine they all seem to converge. Airliners all look alike now, 2 engines etc; sailplanes all have swept leading edges, t-tails, etc. The canard is a feasable concept, but for a certain goals does not result in the most effecient ship, maybe safer under certain conditions, but even then they are not a total fix (they may not stall in the typical sense, but they can sure fall from the sky under the right circumstance). The Starship was a great concept, and one cool looking airplane, but the Kingaire for the money was a much more "feasable" answer for most. Technical evolution, the market, and consumer tastes are tough task masters and the canard just did not quite make the grade in the game.
Marc -----Original Message----- From: glidergeek [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 11:55 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [RCSE] Canards-- what a canard!!! Okay, all you aero junkies: When I was a kid, Burt Rutan was everybody's hero, and the canard planform was the answer to everyone's quest for maximum efficiency. You know the argument, the canard up front has a lifting force in the upward direction, and the wing also has a lifting force in the upward direction, where a conventional stabilizer back at the tail must endure an efficiency-consuming download to counter the lift/weight couple. Canards resist the stall because the forward 'wing' stalls before the main wing can stall, the downwash from the forward 'wing' induces just the right downward flow for the upward swing into the leading edge of the main wing, etc., etc. So, WHERE ARE ALL THE CANARDS???? Why do all the World Class sailplanes with a glide ratio of close to 60 to 1 have conventional tails? Why do all the pylon racers at Reno have a conventional tail? Why do all the corporate jets and fighter planes and RPVs and bush planes and flying boats and puddlejumpers and just-about- everything-else all have conventional tails? The Rutan Vari-Eze was supposed to be the shape of things to come. In the years since, the Beech Starship has fallen into ignonimity and the Solitaire is a relic of the fanciful notions of the past. WHERE ARE ALL THE CANARDS??? Don't even get me started on flying wings! Don Bailey Snohomish 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]
