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At low speeds an aircraft has to generate lift with a higher angle of attack, which results in a greater induced drag. This term dominates the low-speed side of the graph of lift versus velocity. Drag curve for light aircraft. The tangent gives the maximum L/D point. Form drag is caused by movement of the body through air.
A supercritical aerofoil (supercritical airfoil in American English) is an airfoil designed primarily to delay the onset of wave drag in the transonic speed range. Supercritical airfoils are characterized by their flattened upper surface, highly cambered ("downward-curved") aft section, and larger leading-edge radius compared with NACA 6-series ...
The low speed region of flight is known as the "back of the power curve" or "behind the power curve" [7] [8] (sometimes "back of the drag curve") where more thrust is required to sustain flight at lower speeds. It is an inefficient region of flight because a decrease in speed requires increased thrust and a resultant increase in fuel consumption.
For example, the NACA 2412 airfoil has a maximum camber of 2% located 40% (0.4 chords) from the leading edge with a maximum thickness of 12% of the chord. The NACA 0015 airfoil is symmetrical, the 00 indicating that it has no camber. The 15 indicates that the airfoil has a 15% thickness to chord length ratio: it is 15% as thick as it is long.
Swept wings are a practical outcome of the desire to have a low thickness-to-chord ratio at high speeds and a lower one at lower speeds during takeoff and landing. The sweep stretches the chord as seen by the airflow, while still keeping the wetted area of the wing to a minimum. For practical reasons, wings tend to be thickest at the root ...
Thin airfoil theory assumes the air is an inviscid fluid so does not account for the stall of the airfoil, which usually occurs at an angle of attack between 10° and 15° for typical airfoils. [20] In the mid-late 2000s, however, a theory predicting the onset of leading-edge stall was proposed by Wallace J. Morris II in his doctoral thesis. [ 21 ]
Camber is usually designed into an airfoil to raise its maximum lift coefficient C Lmax.This minimizes the stalling speed of aircraft using the airfoil. An aircraft with wings using a cambered airfoil will have a lower stalling speed than an aircraft with a similar wing loading and wings using a symmetric airfoil.
The speed for greatest range (i.e. distance travelled) is the speed at which a straight line from the origin is tangent to the fuel flow rate curve. The curve of range versus airspeed is normally very shallow and it is customary to operate at the speed for 99% best range since this gives 3-5% greater speed for only 1% less range. Flying higher ...