Quote:
Originally Posted by Teri_TX
Tails and rudders are indeed a point of disagreement among other things, I'm neutral on them so far.
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From my perspective, their use is limited by wheel traction. That becomes the fulcrum in any aerodynamic counterbalance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teri_TX
Vetter is a long tail advocate mainly because of his obsession with lower drag.
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gotta agree with him that is the ideal, and nose fences and cross ventilation and steering geometry and short tails and etc seem to be workable compromises with already proven examples, so the target again becomes efficiency for those wanting to maximize efficiency.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teri_TX
Modern sailplanes have their rear empennage on a long boom for yaw and pitch stability due to their extremely long wings to avoid "close coupling".
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Not entirely. A longer boom means the frontal area of the empennage can be smaller. You don't need as much control surface area on a long boom so you can lower overall drag and have the same moments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teri_TX
Our goal here is FE which means low drag is a requirement. We have to keep our eyes on the prize, fuel efficiency.
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And that is why vetter likes long tails and wants to find solutions that enable them. Streamlined is streamlined.