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Re: refutation of the scoop theory



At 10:36 8/21/99 -0400, John Denker wrote:
... Consider two airplanes with reasonably long wings, initially flying
in formation, wingtip to wingtip. Then they move apart, maintaining
constant airspeed at all times. When they move apart, there is an increase
in the induced drag force. This is fundamentally a nonlinear effect. It
is not a small nonlinearity; there is (to a good approximation) a 100%
increase in induced drag.....

This reminds me of an observation you may well make as an airline user.
Looking along the upper surface of the wing, you sometimes see a thin
'wall' in the chordwise direction.
These fences are put in place to hinder the span-wise direction of
airflow which may happen at low speeds.
They can effectively reduce drag, so that some designers fitted end plates
to straight-cut wing tips as a drag reduction measure.


brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>
Altus OK