Which Wing Design Creates the Greatest Lift?

Objective

In this project, you will discover which wing (airfoil) design would create the greatest aerodynamic lift.

Introduction

This is a project that can be as challenging as you want to make it. There is always more to learn about aerodynamics, so you can keep refining your designs and trying out new ideas as your knowledge grows.

Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research

To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:

airfoil,
lift,
drag,
chord line,
mean camber line,
camber,
aspect ratio,
angle of attack.

Questions

What are the four forces on an airplane in flight?
What are the factors that affect the ability of an airfoil to generate lift?

Bibliography

THIS CONTENT IS MADE AVAILABLE FROM SCIENCE BUDDIES

NASA's Glenn Research Center has a wealth of information on Aeronautics. We recommend that you take some time to explore this site, there's a lot of good stuff here. The "Guided Tours" are an excellent way to navigate through the material.
Benson, T., 2005. "Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics," NASA Glenn Research Center [accessed January 16, 2006] http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/index.html.
This page has links to several sources of information on aerodynamics:
O'Sullivan, J., 2001. "Aerodynamics Information," Aerospaceweb.org [accessed January 16, 2006] http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0020.shtml.
Here are links to two different online airfoil simulation programs (both require a Java-enabled Web browser). You can test and refine your design ideas on the computer before building the actual models. Both simulators have instructions on how to use them.
- Benson, T. et al., 2005. "FoilSim II Version 1.5a" NASA Glenn Research Center [accessed January 16, 2006] http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/foil2.html.
- Jones, K., 2006. "Kevin's Online Tools: Panel Code Version 2," Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, U.S. Navy Postgraduate School [accessed January 16, 2006] http://www.aa.nps.navy.mil/~jones/online_tools/panel2/.

Materials and Equipment

This project requires access to a wind tunnel for testing the airfoil designs that you make. Please refer to the "Materials and Equipment" section of the Aerodynamics & Hydrodynamics home page for information on building a wind tunnel.

airfoils,
wooden supports,
weights.

Experimental Procedure

Six wing (airfoil) designs were created to be of equal length. Three designs were conventional and three were experimental.
Thin wooden supports of equal weight and length were created for each side of each wing and attached to allow the wing to pivot on the side supports.
A wind tunnel was created with a one speed motor. Within the tunnel a grid was created to produce a more smooth (laminar) air flow.
Each wing was flown at both a level position and at a 30 degree angle from a level position. Equal amounts of weight were added progressively to each side of the wing being tested until the wing could no longer hold a level or 30 degrees above level position.
After failure, the last successful amount lifted (wing, supports and weights were weighed) was recorded in grams.

Variations

If building a wind tunnel is not an option for you, it doesn't mean that you can't do an aerodynamics project. For example, kites are a great way to learn about aerodynamics. The Wright brothers used kites to test many of their design ideas for their airplane. For more information, see: The Wright Stuff: Using Kites to Study Aerodynamics.