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The ratio of the length of a nose cone compared to its base diameter is known as the fineness ratio. This is sometimes also called the aspect ratio, though that term is usually applied to wings and tails. Fineness ratio is often applied to the entire vehicle, considering the overall length and diameter.
Chords on a swept-wing. In aeronautics, the chord is an imaginary straight line joining the leading edge and trailing edge of an aerofoil. The chord length is the distance between the trailing edge and the point where the chord intersects the leading edge. [1][2] The point on the leading edge used to define the chord may be the surface point of ...
Aspect ratio (aeronautics) An ASH 31 glider with very high aspect ratio (AR=33.5) and lift-to-drag ratio (L/D=56) In aeronautics, the aspect ratio of a wing is the ratio of its span to its mean chord. It is equal to the square of the wingspan divided by the wing area. Thus, a long, narrow wing has a high aspect ratio, whereas a short, wide wing ...
The natural outcome of this requirement is a wing design that is thin and wide, which has a low thickness-to-chord ratio. At lower speeds, undesirable parasitic drag is largely a function of the total surface area, which suggests using a wing with minimum chord, leading to the high aspect ratios seen on light aircraft and regional airliners ...
The longitudinal stability of an aircraft, also called pitch stability, [2] refers to the aircraft's stability in its plane of symmetry [2] about the lateral axis (the axis along the wingspan). [1] It is an important aspect of the handling qualities of the aircraft, and one of the main factors determining the ease with which the pilot is able ...
Wing configuration. The Spitfire wing may be classified as: "a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with unswept elliptical wings of moderate aspect ratio and slight dihedral". The wing configuration of a fixed-wing aircraft (including both gliders and powered aeroplanes) is its arrangement of lifting and related surfaces.
A high aspect ratio indicates a long, narrow sail, whereas a low aspect ratio indicates a short, wide sail. [39] For most sails, the length of the chord is not a constant but varies along the wing, so the aspect ratio AR is defined as the square of the sail height b divided by the area A of the sail planform: [3] [30]
As a consequence, aircraft for which a high lift-to-drag ratio is desirable, such as gliders or long-range airliners, typically have high aspect ratio wings. Such wings however have disadvantages with respect to structural constraints and maneuverability, as evidenced by combat and aerobatic planes which usually feature short, stubby wings ...