Postby Fairy Flycatcher » Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:10 pm
I am not an expert in these things, but some of what I know I want to share with you guys.
I think that your biggest drag issue is the undercarriage. The wing can't go faster than the undercarriage (unless you are a helicopter or gyro), so minimizing drag on your wing is probably not going to improve your performance that much.
Fairings do help to minimize drag, and we have found great improvements in fuel consumption.
Many of the safety factors of trike wings are compromised by trying to get additional speed, and designs such as the Quick are not a dime a dozen. Remember the speed squared law. The pressure and drag increases by the square of the increase in air speed, so extra forces come into play in a big way! Designers of faster craft such as the Quick knows this.
When we are talking about something which naturally has to billow to turn and handle, made of tube and rag, where safety has a lot to do with delicate changes in the surface such as washout and reflex, speed should not be too important.
I recently read a report which stated that some hang glider wings can tumble by flying too fast!! If you want to know more I will ask my skygod to elaborate, he is pretty good at that!
Fly safe!