Bill, theory aside, a very easy way to check airflow at the tip is to stick a piece of yarn there and watch what it is doing in a low flyby. I've had tips where the yarn would twirl in a cone shape on launch, but stick out like a stick in level flight, I assume "stick mode" is telling me the airflow is smooth. As to the relative merit of running an aileron clear out to the end, the down side is the end is unprotected and they get dinged up. I have a friend who always tapes the end of the ailerons so they can't deflect and cause drag. He says it works well in practice. Those "trilerons" I've been using on my GENIE are cute, but that point they come to is a nuisance. It catches on wing bags, and breaks off unless you wrap tape around the extreme end which to my eye is ugly. I hate ugly. I think I hate theory, too. Next GENIE I'm running the aileron out to 1" from the end, but on the LT/S 10' span version, I'm going to rake the last 6" of the TE forward and end the aileron with 1/2" of chord there. I'll stick some yarn there and see what happens. ----- Original Message ----- From: "WE Johns" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "RCSE" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 4:26 PM Subject: [RCSE] aileron tip design
> I hate to break up these philosophical discussions about the merits of LSF > and contest flying, but I have yet another question about sailplane design > and aerodynamics. > > Mark Drela offered an interesting thought. As I understood what he said, > the maximum/optimum effective design for an aileron would be if the whole > wing warped with maximum movement at the tip. The ideal aileron would > extend to the tip of the wing. > > Has anyone ever cut their ailerons straight out to the end of the wing > rather than simply notching them a couple of inches from the end?? Other > than mechanical, i.e. strength of, or at, the wing tip, what might the > downsides be of such a design? > > Any discussion, whether highly theoretical or practical is welcome. Anyone?? > > Thanks, > > Bill > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
