Wings of Aces High

[earl1937]

  In this online game that we, or least some of us, love and play, there are many different kinds of aircraft with many different types of wings. Each wing on an aircraft is designed to do some specific operation for the performance of the aircraft. I think it would be beneficial if some our new and maybe some older players know more about these wings, so here is a little questionnaire which might be of help!

!- What is meant by a 12% wing, a 8% wing or a 21% wing, such as that on the B-17G in our game?

2- What is "MAC"?

3- What is a wing with a "balanced" aileron, such as that on our "Spit Fires"?

4- What is a "Fowler Flap" type wing?

5- What is a "split Flap" wing?

6- What is a "Laminar" Flow wing?

7- Which two aircraft in our game are famous for the "Laminar" flow wing?

8- What is the "separation" point of a wing and why is that important?

9- During a "stall", the wing's separation point moves: forward---backward---remains the same spot?

10- Which aircraft in our game has a wing that was called a "Hersey Bar Wing"?

11- In an aircraft wing, (those of WW2 design), had two wing spars, one main spar and one secondary spar! What was the purpose of the secondary spar?

12- There were "loose" terms used in describing wing design of WW2 aircraft! Which aircraft has a "Over the shoulder" wing?

13- The 57th fighter-bomber group in Italy flew the P-47D40 and the P-47D25 which we have in this game. What did the designers do wrong when they designed the wing and why?

14- What is called the "angle of Incidence" of a wing?

15- What is "wing dihedral"?

16- Why is dihedral important to the performance of the aircraft, such as our C-47 "Skytrain"?

17- How is the length of a wing decided by the designers?

18- What is wing "wash out"?

19- Why are some wing tips round and some square?

20- When an aircraft wing is close to the ground, such as landing, an effect affects the performance of the wing, unseen by man or machine and it is called what?
      And it usually begins to effect the wing at what height above the ground or runway?
 

[wpeters]

7- Which two aircraft in our game are famous for the "Laminar" flow wing?

The P-51 and the Tempest

[715]

1:  ratio of maximum thickness of airfoil to chord?
2) Mean Aerodynamic Chord (i.e. an "average" chord length for tapered wings)
3) ?
4) a flap that extends outward (to increase chord) as well as downward?
5) only the bottom side of the wing deflects downwards (i.e. the flap splits off the bottom of the wing)
6) a wing on which the aerodynamicst thinks the airflow on top does not transition to turbulent flow (but it does as soon as a bug splat appears)
7) P51 (don't know of any others, didn't know the Tempest had a laminar wing)
8) the point along the chord that the flow departs from laminar to turbulent (i.e. vortices and chaotic flow instead of single direction vector)
9) forward?
10) Storch (i.e. rectangular bar planform)
11) beats me, prevent twisting?
12) ?
13) ?
14) Angle the wing makes in relation to the fuselage
15) The angle the wing makes viewed from the front in relation to level.  A positive dihedral means the wing tips are higher off the ground that the root. 
16) This stabilizes the roll axis.  It also gives coupling between the rudder and roll axis.
17) Ah.. sufficient wing loading to keep the plane in the air at a reasonable airspeed?
18) lower angle of incidence at the wing tips so the root stalls first and the tips keep flying.  Prevents sudden roll off at stall, i.e. tip stall.
19) beats me but it affects the tip vortex which affects lift a bit
20) Ground effect.  Not sure but I would guess it starts to be felt at an altitude of about a wingspan.

Do I get a gold star?

[earl1937]

The P-51 and the Tempest

The Ponie and the B-24J

[Lusche]

But the Tempest indeed has a laminar flow wing as well  

[earl1937]

1:  ratio of maximum thickness of airfoil to chord?
2) Mean Aerodynamic Chord (i.e. an "average" chord length for tapered wings)
3) ?
4) a flap that extends outward (to increase chord) as well as downward?
5) only the bottom side of the wing deflects downwards (i.e. the flap splits off the bottom of the wing)
6) a wing on which the aerodynamicst thinks the airflow on top does not transition to turbulent flow (but it does as soon as a bug splat appears)
7) P51 (don't know of any others, didn't know the Tempest had a laminar wing)
8) the point along the chord that the flow departs from laminar to turbulent (i.e. vortices and chaotic flow instead of single direction vector)
9) forward?
10) Storch (i.e. rectangular bar planform)
11) beats me, prevent twisting?
12) ?
13) ?
14) Angle the wing makes in relation to the fuselage
15) The angle the wing makes viewed from the front in relation to level.  A positive dihedral means the wing tips are higher off the ground that the root. 
16) This stabilizes the roll axis.  It also gives coupling between the rudder and roll axis.
17) Ah.. sufficient wing loading to keep the plane in the air at a reasonable airspeed?
18) lower angle of incidence at the wing tips so the root stalls first and the tips keep flying.  Prevents sudden roll off at stall, i.e. tip stall.
19) beats me but it affects the tip vortex which affects lift a bit
20) Ground effect.  Not sure but I would guess it starts to be felt at an altitude of about a wingspan.

Do I get a gold star?

#1 is correct, but put another way, it is the thickness of wing in % of the length of the wing!
#2 is correct
#4 is correct
#5 is correct
#7 P-51 and B-24J
#8 Separation point is where the  air flowing over the wing stops producing lift, only drag
#9 is correct
#10 B-17G
#11 Partially correct, but don't you think that the wing would warp when flaps are lowered, if not re-enforced
#19 Speed! But it hurts maneuverability, good example in this game is the Spit fires, some have rounded tips, one has square tips.
#20 Correct

While a gold star would indicate a perfect score, you did get a large enough amount correct for a passing grade of 65, which in my day would be failing, but since we have "dumbed" down our schools, 60 is now a passing grade. Hope these questions helped you some. I did not answer all correctly so that other guys might try their hand at this!

[earl1937]

But the Tempest indeed has a laminar flow wing as well  

I am sure you are correct, but I don't know to much about the British aircraft. I have never flown the tempest in this game!

[Tilt]

12) Storch

B24 & A20 might qualify as shoulder mounted.

[715]

#10 B-17G

Hershey Bar wing is a constant chord wing (leading edge is parallel to the trailing edge, like the Piper J-3 Cub, and a Hershey bar).  B17 has a tapered wing.

(Gotta get my score up )

[wpeters]

I thought the B-24 was a Davis wing.  Is that considered laminar flow???    I know I can google it   Just to lazy

[earl1937]

I thought the B-24 was a Davis wing.  Is that considered laminar flow???    I know I can google it   Just to lazy

The people at North American, when designing the "Ponie", borrowed the wing design of the B-24 because it was much faster, but I don't think wind tunnel testing was in vogue then, so they might not have known what they were dealing with. I think the term "Laminar" flow wing was more of a marketing phase than anything for the U.S. Army brass.

[earl1937]

Hershey Bar wing is a constant chord wing (leading edge is parallel to the trailing edge, like the Piper J-3 Cub, and a Hershey bar).  B17 has a tapered wing.

(Gotta get my score up )

  Yes, the 17 does have a "tapered" wing design, but when viewed from the side, looking at the shape of the airfoil, one of the Bell Bomber plant employees at Mareitta, Ga, which was building it under contract, coined the phase, "Hersey Bar" wing and it stuck.

[earl1937]

12) Storch

B24 & A20 might qualify as shoulder mounted.

You are correct, B-25, B-26 and many other aircraft are considered "over the shoulder" mounted wings. If the wing is mounted more than 50% above the center of the fuselage from top to bottom, it is considered a "over the should wing". Then you  have the "mid" wing design, and then you have "standard" wing mount, which is the wing mounted more or less on the bottom of the fuselage! The only other "single" wing design, other than those three during the WW2 era, was a "gull wing" design and we all know what that was!

[Karnak]

re: Tempest.  One thing to keep in mind is that what one consider's "most famous" in aircraft is significantly affected by where you live.  Worldwide the Spitfire is generally the most famous of WWII aircraft, but in the USA the P-51 and B-17 easily eclipse it in fame.

[DaveBB]

re: Tempest.  One thing to keep in mind is that what one consider's "most famous" in aircraft is significantly affected by where you live.  Worldwide the Spitfire is generally the most famous of WWII aircraft, but in the USA the P-51 and B-17 easily eclipse it in fame.

References please.