Synergy Aircraft- The future of flight

[ChazInMT]

I came across this company while looking at a video from Oshkosh. Looking into it amazed me that this exists. I believe that one day this will be the basic shape of all airplanes and current aircraft will be antiques. I only wonder how this idea has not caught on wholesale in aircraft design....if I were designing airplanes based on todays technology, I'd look at this and state a loud expletive knowing what I'm working on is a horse & buggy compared to a Prius.

So here's the basic shape.





Now the really counter intuitive trick that makes this amazing is the smallish rear horizontal wing up and behind the main wing is set up to create a lot of Downforce!......Whaaaaa??? Who puts a major flight surface on an airplane to push DOWN?

Theory goes that this creates a huge venturi area between the wings creating way more lift than normally possible for the given sized wing, and, it eliminates the trailing vortex that creates huge amounts of drag, so induced drag is remarkably low.

Reading between the lines this is a 5 place airplane capable of jet like performance using a 200HP diesel engine using 5GPH fuel. That's right, 200+ MPH at 25,000+ feet getting 40MPG in a roomy, quiet, & comfortable cabin. Many design features make this simple and easy to build, the main feature being the main wing has no control surfaces, once these get into mass production they'll be cheap to build.

Here's a diagram showing the airflow effects between the wings, the small upperwing flying "upside down".




In reading a bunch of stuff about this, Burt Rutan is quoted as saying, "Why didn't I think of this."



THEN



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THEN

[UltArc]

Interesting, following- I'm sure there is more to learn here [than I know].

[a8ksh4]

I want one. Where can I get a kit?

[Frank Lee]

Who puts a major flight surface on an airplane to push DOWN?

Pretty much every conventional horizontal tail pushes down.

[botsapper]

Negative stagger wing, reduced interference between wings, gentle stall characteristics and improved visibility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFN0t4OMc4k

[Frank Lee]

^You can practically see the tail pushing down on that Beech- look at the wing and tail angles.

Canard designs have front and rear surfaces both lifting.



107 years ago...

Several "tube winged" craft: http://www.unmuseum.org/flystrange.htm

[ChazInMT]

If you look into it, the Beech Staggewing is not really Anything like a Synergy except for the propeller and flying through the air bits, otherwise, unrelated.

[doviatt]

Frank is correct.
The downward lift on the tail of conventional planes is for balance. Engine weight up front down force in the back = balance. If the tail had upward lift it would have a tendency to decrease the angle of attack of the main wing by rotating the nose down and dive. This is considered an unstable condition with no self correction. Down lift on the tail creates a very stable balance at almost all air speeds and helps keep the main wing angle of attack in check. In the case of the Synergy with its rear engine the down force is to balance the pilot and passenger weight (short body length as was mentioned) up in front of the center of gravity.

Staggerwing is one of my favorite airplanes. I'm glad it got brought up even though I agree...nothing like the Synergy other than it has wings.

[botsapper]

Originally Posted by ChazInMT

If you look into it, the Beech Staggewing is not really Anything like a Synergy except for the propeller and flying through the air bits, otherwise, unrelated.

...only in context w/ the negative wing stagger diagram..

[doviatt]

Wow, -Economy cruise: >40 MPG @ >200MPH
From their website.
Technical Information | Synergy Aircraft
No real kits yet. Only a R/C model has flown. This will be something to watch though.