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Old 02-28-2010, 10:19 PM   #21 (permalink)
3-Wheeler
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man View Post
...exactly, because high-speed jet wings have almost razor-sharp leading edges, not the smoothly rounded edges seen on a Piper Cub, etc.
Jets have sharp edges on the leading edge of the wings for completely different reasons:

1) They fly above the speed of sound
2) The entire surface of wing moves, not just the flaps
a) this is for control when flying super sonic; a flap does not affect the air flow when flying that fast
3) A sharp leading edge provides less drag at super sonic speeds
4) A strange as it sounds, the transfer ports in two cycle engines should NOT be sharp for exactly the same reasons as above; i.e. the air velocity is LOWER than the speed of sound.

Jim.

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