rtfm
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I was watching a History Channel documentary on early aircraft, and heard about Charles Zimmerman's Vought V-173 (and successors). All wings suffer from wing tip vorices and the drag associated with this, but low aspect ratio wings suffer to a relatively greater degree.
According to the documentary, however, Zimmerman overcame this drag:
I found this fascinating.
The question immediately occured to me - how much propeller slipstream effect would be required to offset the wing tip vortices? And this was followed immediately by another... Depending on how much slipstream would be required, might it not be possible to mount small (electric?) props on the wingtips of an "ordinary" plane to counteract the vortices? Some extra thrust, possibly reduced wing tip drag, and possibly with minimal weight penalty.
Of course, it all depends on how effective this prop slipstream effect would be, and whether the benefits would outweigh the cost/effort/complexity involved.
Worth a few thought-experiments? Anyone keen to put on the white lab coat and indulge in some mental scenarios?
Duncan
A table-napkin example...
I was watching a History Channel documentary on early aircraft, and heard about Charles Zimmerman's Vought V-173 (and successors). All wings suffer from wing tip vorices and the drag associated with this, but low aspect ratio wings suffer to a relatively greater degree.
According to the documentary, however, Zimmerman overcame this drag:
I found this fascinating.
The question immediately occured to me - how much propeller slipstream effect would be required to offset the wing tip vortices? And this was followed immediately by another... Depending on how much slipstream would be required, might it not be possible to mount small (electric?) props on the wingtips of an "ordinary" plane to counteract the vortices? Some extra thrust, possibly reduced wing tip drag, and possibly with minimal weight penalty.
Of course, it all depends on how effective this prop slipstream effect would be, and whether the benefits would outweigh the cost/effort/complexity involved.
Worth a few thought-experiments? Anyone keen to put on the white lab coat and indulge in some mental scenarios?
Duncan
A table-napkin example...
Last edited:
