Airfoils at low speeds

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I am working with friends on a simple airplane/glider, and was wondering if any of you knew where I could look for some information about airfoils that work better at low speeds?



it will most likely be a glider, but i'd like to know if there are special airfoil designs at low speeds so that i wouldn't have to make the wingspan as big (because then we would have to worry about weight more)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    What size ?

    Are you talking small......as in throw...or toss?

    Or glider that you are planning to strap yourself into to ?

  • Reply 2 of 13
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
  • Reply 3 of 13
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aquafire

    What size ?

    Are you talking small......as in throw...or toss?

    Or glider that you are planning to strap yourself into to ?





    myself, are you crazy, that is dangerous, i'll have my friends test it first







    Quote:

    Originally posted by AirSluf

    It actually works the other way around, longer wingspan == more efficient and better performing for the weight the structure imposes. Don't know of any shortcuts though, even my buddies that are into RC aircraft have spent years learning before they began rolling their own designs.



    well i dont really have any limitations to building this (except money ) and all i want is to be able to glide from the top of somewhere to the bottome safely...i understand this will be hard to do and take a while and thats fine with me, i just am trying to gain some background information on it. I know about airfoils and am reading about some diff kinds that are supposed to make more lift then traditionaly air-foil designs.



    the problem is i want it to work well at REALLY low speeds which i think will be a problem
  • Reply 4 of 13
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    "
    Quote:

    : The problem is i want it to work well at REALLY low speeds which i think will be a problem [/B]



    There is a ton of stuff on Google...



    Just depends on how slow you mean..remembering that wind-speed / lift / drag are energy related & that you'r at these forces combined effects as they equate to relative ground / air speed...

  • Reply 5 of 13
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    i can see in a few years, some small support group in a basement.



    "Hi, my name is ast3r3x, and i have a death wish."



    didn't you try to build some weid ass electo-something gun?
  • Reply 6 of 13
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    i can see in a few years, some small support group in a basement.



    "Hi, my name is ast3r3x, and i have a death wish."



    didn't you try to build some weid ass electo-something gun?




    NO, i was going to but it would cost to much money to make a good one
  • Reply 7 of 13
    thttht Posts: 5,421member
    My memory says a NACA 4412 would be a good one. Don't have my books with me, but there you go.



    However, high lift isn't really what you want, since they are fairly sensitive to stalls. Go for a little robustness and make the wing bigger so you don't killed yourself. Something like a NACA 3218, something a little fatter and with a little camber.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    You're not thinking of entering that Red Bull Flugtag contest are you?
  • Reply 9 of 13
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by audiopollution

    You're not thinking of entering that Red Bull Flugtag contest are you?



    haha i figured somone would ask that, no i am not, i was going to enter into it, but its not JUST how far u go
  • Reply 10 of 13
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
  • Reply 11 of 13
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AirSluf

    You can also flight test your designs in X-Plane. It has some good plane model design tools and pretty good aero modelling for a flight sim. It's already been used that way for drone work as well as the gyro-copter that is plastered all over the website x-plane.com



    thanks everyone i'll check into all this
  • Reply 12 of 13
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    Public Domain Aeronautical Software (Airfoil tools wazzoo)
  • Reply 13 of 13
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    is this the leading edge you're looking for ?

    (click img or here)
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